


Chiaroscuro

by moonlightfever



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:40:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25122541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightfever/pseuds/moonlightfever
Summary: Huang Renjun and Lee Haechan are the main characters of a newest sci-fi movie.  Renjun and Haechan are opposites. Drama unfolds when both of them seem not to like each other... at all.Actor!au
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49
Collections: Renhyuck Fic Fest Round 1





	Chiaroscuro

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I would love to thank the prompter for sending this prompt. I hope you like it. I tried to do my best :) I've been writing this fic for such a long time now I can believe I'm finally posting on AO3. I went through a lot this year, it was really tough... but I promised I would finish this fic even though I was not in the mood to do it. Anyways, hope you all have a good time reading. 
> 
> Chiaroscuro: chiaro (clear/bright) and oscuro (obscure/dark)

“You get on my nerves, _Super Star_ ,” Donghyuck breathed harshly. “After all this time you still make me want to punch your pretty face.”

In the dark he heard the small dark figure of the man in front of him laugh. Shortly the door of the somber hotel room was closed and tension inside the room was palpable. The actor backed away without taking his eyes of the man in front of him, Donghyuck’s co-star. He felt tension buzzing through his body, firing up his instincts. Even so dark, he could not see his expression but that man’s presence was enough to make his blood pump differently on his veins.

_Don’t be weak… Not again._

“Do I make you so angry?” Donghyuck’s body tensed up when he heard the man’s voice vibrate in waves through the room. He felt chills through his body. _Crazy shit._

 _Do you hate me? -_ he heard the other night in the same tone.

Before he could even formulate the answer to that question he felt the air switch and the man get even closer to him. He walked carefully as if he asked for his permission to get closer. _Oh, do not be so pathetic._ Donghyuck tried to search his eyes in the darkness with no success. 

Renjun, no, please.

In this dark room Donghyuck could almost taste the desire, the simple pleasure. His mouth dry and his hands grasping his sides, the dangerous tremble of his legs. Just steps away to grab what has been bothering his head these few days. Kiss that man senseless in the dark, where he could pretend to not have recollection later. Leave his mark on the warm skin and beg to hear the sounds he heard the last time. 

_Fuck him. Fuck the dark. Fuck this hotel room. Fuck me, to be honest._

Hyuck backed away a bit more until he felt a small thud. He finally hit the glass window. Now, so close to the window he heard the faint screaming and the cars outside in the street. People buzzing at the movie premiere and at the circus the company planned down the hotel that night. Donghyuck bitterly hoped they were enjoying themselves.

“I made you upset, I know,” Renjun started, his voice trembling, “ Gosh, I wish I could have told you how good you looked that night. I bet you do too right now, even if I can’t see you.”

A blinding light ray came into the room, uninvited and revealing. Donghyuck saw clearly as the white light flashed through Renjun’s face. He bore his eyes on Renjun’s expression and his features for the first time since they got into that room. Renjun did not even flinch at the change, he did not try to hide himself. There, open for him.

A sudden discomfort poked Donghyuck’s chest making him gasp.

The eyes that followed him in the past were there just meters away from him. A small smile peeked on his lips, daring Hyuck after his little confession. So sure of himself in that velvet red suit that made Donghyuck think about the word ‘super star’ once again. Donghyuck understood that the light came from the red carpet spotlight, but he could not stop thinking that Renjun became the source of the light. 

He wanted to say something foolish, just like the man before him did seconds ago. The staring contest should stop anytime now because Hyuck’s heart would not take anymore. He wanted run his hands through the window curtains to stop the lights from coming to the room. 

Hyuck did not had time to do so when the light changed and the room became black once again. It was for the best, he could hide his issues in the dark. Things were hard enough in the light. 

“I don’t want to play this game with you, _Super Star_ ,” Donghyuck finally said. 

The lights were back on Renjun’s face. Hyuck saw his pained expression, lips tight and eyes never leaving his. He opened his mouth once but nothing came out. 

Then he mumbled. “Y-you can pretend what you want, Hyuck. I don’t think I can handle this anymore. I beg you to be gentle.”

“That night I could not stop thinking how much I wanted to go back and kiss your stupid face,” Renjun took a deep breathe. “You were everything that I wanted, for god’s sake. Now you have something against me and you can use it how you want. But god, I wish I could ruin you too…”

He was so exposed. The spotlight was on Renjun, showing what he had been hiding within his chest. His confession clear as the light that shone on his eyes.

Lights went out. 

Curtains drawn. 

_Chiaroscuro._

༻✦༺

"We’re back from the commercials. Today's guest is Make Me Scream actor, Huang Renjun, thank you so much for coming today and sharing your interesting ideas.” 

The camera panned the actors head bow while he gave a small and polite smile.

“So, just before the commercials we were talking about the current cinema and musical industry in Asia. You are part of the of the few actors that went overseas, worked with foreign directors and actors. Were there any difference between what you have been working with until now to the foreign Industry?” Kim Jisoo asked.

"To be honest what I have been familiar until now was the Chinese industry and all I can say that it has its perks. As an Chinese actors we depend of the directors and the companies to find different projects to work on. Some projects can be too rushed and you don’t have enough time to develop the characters or do the important research. That’s usually the main problem. In some cases we receive offers of scripts and tv dramas that follow the same plot of your last work too. Asian actors that usually go overseas to audition can't always get the part they were auditioning for. It is really hard out there, to be honest."

"You’ve worked in three different projects last fall, a movie, a TV movie and also a tv show. Wow, you were pretty busy,” the interviewer laughed.

"Yes, thank you so much. I’m really proud of the outcome, hope the viewers could enjoy these projects just as much as I did," the young actor smiled.

“You are very young though. You are twenty-five, am I right?” the interviewer commented. "You sound so mature for someone at your age. Can you tell us how do you see yourself in the industry right now?"

The actor laughed at his comment. The camera now zoomed on his face. "Thank you so much. Yeah, I got really lucky. I think I have a huge responsibility and I try to be extremely careful and thoughtful. 

People want to reach perfection and want to be successful in their careers. It can be stressful when you are too young. I guess we need to be patient and work hard to get what we want, always thinking about our health too. But I still have a lot to learn."

The interviewer hummed in appreciation. 

"Well, thank you so much Mr. Huang," both interviewer and actor smiled and bowed. "Thank you at home. You can leave your comments on our SNS and also leave your thoughts to our guests today. This is the end. See you next Wednesday. Everyone a round of applause for Huang Renjun."

Cameras pan out.

Smiles slip away.

Lights out.

༻✦༺

"You look so serious in these kinds of interviews. It’s like you’re holding your breath, or something. Do I need to call Mr. Lee to talk about your media training again?” Jaemin laughed at Renjun while they both walked at the backstage of the studio. “ _Renjun-ah_ I know you can be funny, believe me I remember that we had so much fun in the past. You are totally able to make jokes.”

Renjun scoffed. Jaemin sometimes made him want to send him to a distant place, a different planet - if possible… He had the ability to make Renjun lose his patience with the simple sound of his annoying cute voice. As his manager and agent Jaemin was very efficient and determined, but sometimes his jokes were overbearing. Renjun hated to admit that he started to get used to Jaemin infuriating nature. Jaemin and his infuriating pink locks. However, right now he wished Jaemin would stop following him. 

“Oh, don’t be like that, Renjun-ah. What are you thinking about?” they both stopped in front of the dressing room.

Renjun turned around.

“What am I thinking about?” he asked staring at a smiley pink-haired Jaemin. “Maybe I’m thinking about how much I wish I had a different Korean agent. Should I make a few calls too, huh?”

Of course, this kind of threat would not even stir Jaemin’s bubbly personality, not even a bit. It only made Jaemin’s smile brighter and even more annoying. He had been through Renjun’s acid moods and sharp comments, it made him almost immune to his unpleasant words.

“So funny, Renjun. See, that’s what I’m talking about. You’re totally capable of being funny if you try a bit.” 

Renjun only growled and stomped his way into the dressing room. 

“I’m not trying to tease you, Renjun. I know you underestimate my work.” Jaemin stopped in front of the door and closed it. “Yeah, sad. Don’t need to look at me like that, I’m not dumb. That’s why I’m trying to do my job, which is managing your career.”

Like the very beginning of his path as an actor Renjun learned that he needed to keep his mouth shut. He was always wrong and people used to tell him not to worry because ‘Everything is taken care of’. It was not a matter of being good or bad, black or white. He understood that, if he wanted to stay in the industry, he had to bleed… Bleed red, yellow, black or white.

People from his company would say what he needed and he only had to nod it like a dashboard doll. After signing the contract, his company and him became one. He was not the same Huang Renjun from Jilin who speaks korean and chinese fluently, who loved his mother more than anything in the whole world. 

No. He was Limitless Huang Renjun, chinese actor, national treasure and now newest bachelor. 

“I got nervous with the talk about the recent movie. They have their ways to mention Liu and I wasn’t ready.” Renjun moved his hands through his hair, staring deep into his own reflection in the mirror. 

Things were not pleasant with the press these days, not after the news about the broken engagement. On interviews reporters always slid in questions, even though they were asked beforehand to not do so. What could he do? People were so curious about the Number One Couple in China right now. 

“They are not going to mention Liu, Renjun.” Jaemin said. “If they did so I wouldn’t be doing my job correctly, anyways.”

Renjun gave him a sharp smile.

“Don’t even try to say what you were going to say, mister,” he deadpanned. “I believe you are so much better now with me than with the guy who ruined your career. Man, you were such a mess in the _‘before Jaemin’_ period. “

“Before Jaemin period? Narcissistic much?” Renjun laughed.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Jaemin did not stop talking even when Renjun muttered a dready _Do I? “_ The agency was making right thing with the whole marriage story. But they focused too much on the media and the problem was actually in your relationship with Liu. I should have gotten a bonus when that guy left, but let’s not talk about that now.”

“Let’s, Jaemin, please.” Renjun was starting to feel a strange throb on the back of his head.

It was the marriage talk. He could not handle that mess of his unsuccessful relationship again. That’s why he tried to ignore as much as he could. Renjun knew the exact reason why his marriage was ruined and he did not need to revive all the trauma. Liu was in the past now. Missed phone calls and a lot of yelling made him realise that it was over for her. They were so different and Liu was making hard for Renjun to open up about his decisions. Exhaustion took the best of both of them and fighting for a feeling that was not mutual and sincere was not worth in the end. 

The media made fun of him. Some media outlets claimed he was unfaithful, others made Liu look like an obsessed fiancé. Renjun was quickly drowning in lies and no one could help him out. They broke off the wedding just after an ugly quarrel. Renjun called his manager, desperate and in tears. He could not stop thinking about the media outlets the next day. He wished he could live under the claws of a broken marriage, a fake one, just so he would not face the reporters again. 

“Don’t need to be worried about that, it’s all taken care of. There’s no need to talk about your broken engagement because everything was discussed before. Nothing will change that. They can’t get a new scoop,” Jaemin reassured him. “Now, please get ready, we are going off in five.”

༻✦༺

Everything about the script on Renjun’s hand made him curl in embarrassment. He could not take another silly romance anymore. A Korean rookie would take the part just fine. There was nothing appealing about a male lead going around and showing possessive behaviour towards the female lead. Scripts like these were definitely a _pass_ for him. 

He shoved the few pages of the script back to a white envelope, marking the lid with his black pen.

Renjun starred at the window, that was the exact moment Jaemin crossed the crosswalk holding hands with a black-haired stranger. 

He frowned. Renjun was not expecting guests. Jaemin had already texted him earlier saying that he would drop by anytime in the afternoon. The company had an offer and they were supposed to discuss before a meeting next week. Which sounded like a big deal because Jaemin and Xuxi could not stop emailing him about the news. The email thread getting uncharacteristically longer by hour.

Renjun brushed his hair back. He got off the sofa, walking back to the kitchen to grab some water. His nails scraping the kitchen’s counter as he roamed around the kitchen.

Jaemin got himself in and in seconds the whole atmosphere of the house changed.

Renjun missed having a pet. This thought sometimes crossed Renjun’s mind when Jaemin visited him. It was a pity that Liu took Moomin from him. Jaemin could lift the mood just like Moomin did then. It made him feel less abandoned.

Unfortunately, he found it was better if Liu took Moomin with her since he was moving out to Korea. Renjun worried it would be awful for Moomin wellbeing and also his. He had to sacrifice a lot of things by the end of the relationship, so giving up his pet was not so hard after all.

Going back to the actual situation, he made a lot of progress with the quite fuzzy decoration. Brown boxes filled the white and pristin rooms just weeks ago. The whole moving nightmare was over after a whole night of drinking beer out of the can and some pesky dancing. 

“Brought you some fine buns from the coffee shop,” Jaemin _singsonged “_ And actually some fine good news too…”

Jaemin dropped his bag on the counter. Seconds ago, he was just holding hands with the man, a stranger that stared at his house with critical eyes. He stayed back in the entrance, looking around as if he was still waiting for permission to get closer. Renjun tried to remember if Jaemin mentioned about a new boyfriend before but without any memory of the newest boytoy he waited for an introduction.

“Thanks, Jaem,” he said. “I was dying to have one of these.”

“Hm, you’re welcome, babe,” Jaemin smiled. 

“Hm- Did not want to pry but I can’t stop myself from asking about the elephant in the room…?” Renjun lifted his head a bit. “You know, is there something you want to tell me?”

Jaemin frowned, completely oblivious - which made Renjun’s blood boil a bit. He followed the motion of Renjun’s head only to find the man staring at both of them, unconcerned. Jaemin gasped and smiled, letting out a “ah” sound. Renjun did know what kind of dumb game his agent was trying to play but today was really not a good day to try him.

“Nothing to be worried about,” he murmured. “He’s just leaving, aren’t you honey? He just gave me a ride, we were both in Myeongdong and it’s on the way to his work, so…”

Renjun bit his cheek, analyzing how Jaemin tried to make everything sound so lowkey and ordinary as the sun going down. “Fine, loverboy.”

Jaemin did not even flinch, he walked to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. He grabbed the fresh bag of buns he brought and took a piece of the delirious brown baked goodie. Then as he was not even there the guest left. Just in time for Renjun to make Jaemin's life hell with questions. Unfortunately, Jaemin did not leave space for him to formulate any question.

“Ah, so the good news we were supposed to talk about today,” he initiated. “Xuxi and Lee want to talk to you tomorrow. Facetiming would be nice, they said. We have a major project coming up next month.”

“Please don’t tell me it’s another movie with Netflix, I just can’t take dying my hair to rainbow colors yet,” Renjun begged with a bun on his mouth. He could not help being whiny about Netflix and their upcoming projects.

“A Korean and Chinese production, actually,” he stated. “Netflix is rethinking their choices after A Lover Tonight promo. You made them eat dust with the commentaries.”

“I just spoke my mind, I thought the script was a copy of that Japanese movie and I was right.”

Jaemin rolled his eyes, Renjun could really be an ass sometimes. He used the being ‘sincere’ and ‘outspoken’ cards way too much. That is why he got in trouble before with in headlines and articles exposing his opinion. Netflix backtracked an upcoming project when the ‘plagiarism’ rumours came out and after a long talk with Renjun’s company they decided not to charge him for his obnoxious allegations. 

“Yeah, but next time you decide to be a smart-ass try to pick movies you’re not in as a main actor,” Jaemin ruffed out.” Anyways, back to the present here…"

“Xuxi emailed the script to the company’s office. We are still waiting for a green light to start the meetings. It seems like everything is working fine until now.”

“You said Korean-Chinese? Are we filming in China?"

“I don't know, mayb- Oh! They did not reveal much about the plot but it seems to be a sci-fi romance, which got the CEO’s excited. If it is confirmed we will release the articles by the end of next week and the reading-through will start by then too. Sounds exciting." 

"Sounds weird but let's not judge," Renjun says, he knew that was what Jaemin wanted to hear.

༻✦༺

Taeil dropped his arms around the sofa's fluffy pillows, hands tights on the iPad.

“As requested by the company, the album meetings were postponed until the second part of the filming in Beijing. So please don't worry about the studio, Lisa is going to take care of this."

Donghyuck sighed loudly. “My fans are going to hate the news."

"I mean, what can we do about that, Hyuck? It’s not like they have to wait forever to listen to your voice again. You just released the LP two months ago. Besides we decided to focus on your acting career for the second semester." Taeil babbled.

It was not a matter of favoritism or what he preferred to do now. Donghyuck loved singing just as much as acting. It was part of his debut and his history in the industry. He faced the acting career as a challenge a long time ago, and as that director on the theater he worked before said: "In front of the cameras you shine just like the sun. Hae-chan, that is how they should call you."

A rather peculiar name that made so much sense to him. Full of sun, just like his mother used to call him. He made his career on the stage as Lee Haechan and then after he debuted with his first LP his career soared.

"What about the script? Any news?", he said. 

"Jisoo just received the few first pages. I'm going to print it tomorrow morning." Taeil swiped his fingers efficiently on the screen. “We have a meeting with the directors and the Chinese production company next week. They booked the readings to start on Tuesday, is that ok?"

"Fine by me." Donghyuck threw his head back on the sofa. He could not do a lot after the whole filming process starts. His schedule is usually so hectic while filming and he’s grateful that he has someone to take care of this.

The last two months of album promotions were complicated with the rumors that appeared around personal life. Donghyuck was tired of the speculation. He gave everything to his fans, and his fans only. But the media could not leave him alone. Was this his company’s fault? Oh, you can bet it was. He recalled hearing Taeil on the phone with Mr. Park, the CEO. 'Rumors come when people can't stop thinking about you. People envy you, they want to be your partner, they want to have your life and your friends. That’s why you have to make it sound interesting, even though you are boring as fuck.'

Boring? Yes, he could use this word to describe being twenty three. Very boring, thank you so much. When the rumors about dating an older celebrity were all the journalists could talk about Donghyuck did not want the said boring life anymore. 

His fans were always with him, that's why he spends a lot of time on SNS looking through messages and e-mails. Like now, his fans were commenting about his last appearance on Running Man, which he managed to leave a good impression with his amazing good humor. Some fans were praising on his visuals and how he was really funny. He smiled at that comment.

He felt a tingling pain on his chest when he recalled the comments that would be all-over internet just weeks ago. He could not believe when his shitty relationship with his sister became part of the headlines. It was no secret that Donghyuck had a sister who was also an actress. 

Dohee became a pain in Donghyuck ass when he was only fourteen. The Lee’s auditioned for the same drama, Donghyuck at the age of fourteen and Dohee, a seventeen soon-to-be eighteen girl. It was Donghyuck’s dream, his first audition, it was everything he wanted. He was not so sure about his sister’s intention since Dohee had a quite different set of mind. He hoped things would work out for both of them. There was hope on his heart and he prayed they would be casted. Even though his sister would only scoff and be smug all the time. 

With the casting news it seemed like Donghyuck’s life turned upside down. His sister was casted and he was not. He cried for a whole day when he got the news. Dohee had always been hard on the edges, a tough person mostly with Hyuck. It was not part of her temper, Hyuck noticed, it took him time but he finally found out Dohee’s real intentions. She was cruel to him for no reason, just for the pleasure of being. 

Weeks after her first acting outbreak she received a proposal. Dohee then forgot about her family, she moved and said no other word to the people who loved her very much. 

Hyuck sighed. 

Things only got worse after he received the same proposal years later and people started to make correlations between them. The Lee Siblings, they would be called. Dohee and Hyuck’s relationship was nothing more than a commercial deal. Lips would stay shut out of the spotlight, no words said by them. Things would be better like this, their company said. Dohee probably hated Hyuck’s guts so much…

Looking at the comments now Donghyuk felt at ease. The imaginary weight he would take everywhere was gone now. He could read articles and not find no relation to his sister and her nasty words.

༻✦༺

Renjun let out a low frustrated noise through his lips. The ticking of the clock on the wall of the small meeting room could be heard from where he was sitting. The director and two small men related to the movie company sat opposite to him talking in an amicable tone.

Jaemin chewed loudly one of the melon flavored bubblegum they found on the way to the meeting. He ate the whole pack by now, since they were waiting for more than an hour.

Renjun’s co-star, he reckoned, was late for their meeting in the early morning. It was encounter promoted by the director before the filming and read-throughs that would happen in the following weeks. Renjun was used to this kind of formalities by now, it was the way to get to know you co-stars and cast members and finally get acquainted with the people you would work with.

The problem now was that he and his co-star were the only members of the cast invited today, which made Renjun confused when he arrived earlier. Then he was informed by the director’s assistant that they were waiting for a certain person and no other member was included in the list. Renjun snickered and bitterly called Jaemin out so he could diss this whole stupid meeting.

Nevertheless, Renjun now could not hide his sly disappointment and annoyance while he waited for his late co-star. Maybe he was a rookie, who had no sense of responsibility and an bold agent that could not even call the director to inform his belated lateness. 

_Who the fuck he think he is? Well, wait a second._ Renjun noticed he was asking the wrong question. _Who the fuck is he anyways? What the fuck is his name?_

He was just going to hiss the question to Jaemin’s direction when the late rookie finally arrived.

Obnoxious, that was the perfect word to describe the man who just arrived with who seemed to be his agent just behind him. The agent bowed and murmured apologies profusely while he catches some breath. They both seemed to have run the whole way back to the room. The spent actor breathed loudly; his eyes focused on the ground. Few strands of his dark brown hair were stuck on his temple, dripping with sweat. 

The whole room was silent watching the scene before them as if it was part of theatrical play. They were waiting for a brave soul that could break the silence.

Suddenly, the director’s assistant ran into the room babbling, “Oh Mr. Moon and Mr.Lee we were waiting for you,” and then turning to the director, “I’m deeply sorry, sir. I was waiting for them downstairs and I could not, hm sto- warn them.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Suh. Would you please bring water for the gentleman? I guess they ran all the way here. I think they would need a few towels too,” the director smiled.

The assistant bowed and left the room.

The man did not seem a bit embarrassed, in fact, he looked nothing but worried. The obnoxious actor was younger than Renjun, he noticed. He had small face and lean figure. His golden skin was now filled with small dots of sweat and his foundation ran down his neck. The white blouse he wore was now ruined in the collar. A really tragic vision. Still, he had sparkles in his eyes, which Renjun found to be annoying. It made him look boyish and even younger.

He did not want to judge the young actor although he was fuming inside. Renjun, at first, thought of him as naive and unprofessional. A beginner that had a lot to learn about appointments and the real acting universe. Then maybe the man was just an asshole, an actor who would belittle the others and make his co-workers wait for hours just so because he could. A person who had no sense of commitment, who could make Renjun nerves just burn.

Renjun took pity of the manager that would still sit in front of the director and apologize. An embarrassed frown on his face. 

The meeting then started. Renjun was finally introduced to his co-star. Lee Haechan, Mr. Park, the director said. 

Lee Haechan for the first time since he arrived aimed his eyes in Renjun’s direction. He looked like a kicked puppy. Hyuck managed to smile at him brightly which Renjun answered with a curt nod.

“It’s a pleasure to work with you. I can say that we’re really excited to start the filming,” Jaemin supplied before Renjun could even open his mouth.

He must have seen Renjun’s sour expression from where he was. Things were not going to go well after that. 

Renjun smiled, “Indeed.”

“I could only hope so. I wanted to talk with both of the stars of this movie before the filming so that’s why I asked your companies. They will let you know the plan for promotions later but I wanted to explain a little bit about the movie plot and the idea we have for both of you.” 

Some aspects worried Renjun a bit, the whole process of filming in China and Korea in the next months seemed, the cherry on top. They explained how the sci-fi plot would connect the sets. It was all about the time travel technology, which the actors had to study a bit about. The director planned to ‘rotate’ the plot around the characters. 

Renjun’s character, the director supplied, was a stray scientist who gave up college to develop a time machine. He was successful, but while running from the Chinese government he travelled to the future, to a dystopian Asia. Lee Heachan’s character makes an appearance as a runaway that tries to help Renjun go back to the past while running from his own crimes. 

The company planned to work with Lee Haechan to produce a original soundtrack. Renjun tried to hide his surprise while the director exposed the plans to his co-star who as also a _uh-_ singer. Renjun realized that Lee Haechan was probably one of those new k-pop idols. _Well, here we go._

By the end of the reunion Renjun was handed in a copy of the script and the schedule for the readings and costume tryouts. Both actors shook hands with the director and the company representants and then they let them go. 

No words were shared between the actors. Renjun excused himself and bid a polite goodbye, Jaemin following just behind him.

༻✦༺

In the car, Renjun unlocked his phone looking for his favorite hot pot restaurant in Jangchung-dong. It was lunchtime now and he had two hours before the next event. 

Jaemin was busy on the phone too, probably confirming the Grazia photoshoot scheduled for later. Eyes stuck on the iPad while he took notes.

After informing the driver where they were having lunch that day Renjun tipped his head back on the car headrest. Renjun’s head was still in that meeting room. He felt a distinct excitement thinking about filming again and working on the new project.

“We’re going to stop by the next building,” Jaemin suddenly said to the driver “Song is having lunch with us. She’s doing your makeup for the day since Chen is travelling.”

Renjun muttered a yes, eyes trapped on the traffic. 

“C’mon,” Jaemin deadpan “What’s the problem now?”

“None at all.”

“Really? Are you not going to annoy me with what happened?” 

Renjun shook his head. Nothing happened in the meeting, to be honest. But Jaemin loved to call him out for being a bitch.

"Oh please, stop," he rolled his eyes "It was obvious you got pissed off because the guy was late. It looked like you were going to act like a bitch and grab his neck. "

Renjun decided to stay silent.

"What if he got a bit late?"

Renjun bit his lip, "Ok, I got a little upset with their tardiness."

"Yep, duly noted."

"Shut up," Renjun sneered at Jaemin's words "It's good that you can read my mind so I don't have to waste my vocal chords."

Jaemin laughed, "Sure, baby. I don't want you to spill your venom."

"Ha ha, very funny," Renjun murmured “that must be Song." 

The driver stopped so Song could hop in. The sweet and small makeup artist was waiting for them next to a coffee shop. She smiled and waved when Jaemin opened the car’s door.

Song worked with Renjun in many occasions, she was a nice and hard-working person. She took the expression 'hear on the grapevine' seriously, that's why she knew a lot about people she worked for.

“Lee Haechan, right?” she hummed. Jaemin let Song know what happened earlier retelling the facts in his bashful manner. 

“He’s not totally unknown, you know? He’s sort of A-list pop singer and actor. Won some awards just after debuting, etc. I haven’t worked with him before but some of my friends did...”

Jaemin stared at Renjun, “You see, he’s a nice guy. You are going to be BFFs in no time, I bet.”

“Well, I mean… Some people may say otherwise, like his sister…”

“See, not so nice after all,” Renjun bit back.

Song laughed, “Ok, what I’m going to tell you is top notch gossiping, so don’t go out telling other A-lists about this,” Renjun comically raised his hand and put on his chest, “Right, I trust you won’t tell, you don’t like this kind of stuff. But Jaemin on the other hand… He gets off with gossiping.”

“Are you guys working together to diss me? I deserve a raise, jeez!” Jaemin deadpanned. 

“Well, Haechan is well known because of his sister Lee Dohee, who is also an actress. Also, because he is a heartbreaker. I guess the news outlets announce his new affairs every week. The boy has a lot on his past, thanks to Dohee and her husband So Jaehyun. He basically ruined Haechan’s career after leaking some info about his love life. His life went downhill, he started being seen with lots of women. 

His sister then stopped talking with him and released a note saying that Haechan was abusing her mental health and her husband was tired of all the fighting they went through the last months. She had a miscarriage because of the stress. She blamed him, not explicitly, but she did. Haechan was really the bad guy. Dohee said she was embarrassed and it didn’t take much to realise that she was talking about her brother.”

“Man, that’s sick.”

“Just like I imagined, _immature_.” Renjun scoffed.

“He was in deep shit after that. A lot of celebrities cut relations with him; the guy became a nuisance. I think people love to hate him and hate to love him.”

Jaemin shook his head, “Now I feel even more sorry for his agent. He got a lot of mess to clean up after that sister of his…”

Renjun hated gossiping with all his soul. He had been the target of them for some years. He knew the importance of being well-known, that people needed to talk about him so he could be famous. Popularity is made like this… But he hated how people treated celebrities like disposable trash. 

Haechan looked like an immature kid, who had a tough background in the industry. Renjun did not expect much coming from him. 

༻✦༺

For seven minutes the only thing Haechan could hear was Taeil screaming on the phone with someone from his company. He sounded mad and at the same time worried. Haechan wanted to take that phone and throw it away for some minutes but he promised that he would let Taeil report back to his company everything that happened.

“That’s roughly the biggest problem right now, Taeil,” Haechan rolled his eyes “I actually got the car fixed two weeks ago. There wasn’t no way in hell I would have known that the car was going to break today.”

Taeil pretended not to hear what he was saying, pointing to his cellphone with slight bulging eyes. Well, this was a sign that he had to wait for his nanny to finish the call.

Haechan bored his eyes on the building outside Taeil’s office, too lazy to pick his phone that was now on Taeil’s bag.

“Koji is going to bring your new car tomorrow, they asked me to tell you so you could leave the old car keys with me", Taeil said after finishing the call.

“Tell Koji that the car is on the garage. But there was no need to change it, I was kinda getting used to it by now."

"Well, next time you can tell us beforehand."

Taeil looked tired, Haechan noticed. They went through quite a few problems that morning before the interview, the car being the worst one. Still he could only thank Tail for being such a great person and an important ally. 

"Thank you Taeil, really," he muttered. "I'm sorry for what happened."

Taeil stared at him, a boyish smile creeping on his face. He could not keep the angry façade any longer.

"It's ok. What do you think about the movie? Did you like it? Do you have any ideas?" 

Donghyuck hummed. "Actually, no."

"I was worried about filming in China, though? I realize that the cast might also be Chinese, right? Must I now start learning Chinese, because you know that my English sucks."

"We may need a translator for the trip and the script is bilingual," Taeil handed Hyuck the script, “You can start the studies from now on, and I'll let you know if you need to do some body training."

"Oh nooooo, please you know how I hate the gym. Please, Taeil hyung!"

Donghyuck tantrums only made Taeil frown and scold him even more. "Stop being lazy, you need to get in shape. I've never seen a celebrity who's not worried about their appearance."

After ten minutes arguing about Donghyuck's baby tummy Taeil had already scheduled a gym session later that week. Hyuck, of course, has to act like a baby and make Taeil lose his mind for a bit. That only made his agent stomp off his house angry and mumbling curse words. He found it hilarious.

Later when Donghyuck was going to bed Taeil sent him a website link of said article that was going to be released about the movie. His photo appeared beside a close shot of his costar, which now he could analyze better since that morning. 

**Lee Donghyuck:**

_i look so good taeil hyung_

_I approve this shot_

_I hope my costar does too, tho_

Hyuck is not oblivious, people always say that he looks so aloof sometimes but it is part of his façade. He uses obliviousness and this naive look because it is part of his defense shield. People fall for this kind of behavior and it is easier to see which people he should trust or not. He has been hurt a lot before. That is why he noticed the pointing looks he received when he entered that meeting room. They came from his costar, which surprised him at first. He tried to act coy, being late and for making them wait for almost two hours, there was not a lot he could do right now than apologize.

They have not before, that he knew. Although he realized that he did not leave a good impression at their first meeting. Hyuck hoped the act of coldness he received could go away. Maybe they could be friends or so…

**Taeil hyung:**

_About that_

_I asked for your costars information number and asked their management to approve the article_

_I wanted to talk about him earlier._

**Donghyuck:**

_oh_

_why?_

**Taeil hyung:**

_If he acts a little hostile towards you, let me know. He has this kind of history of being tough to handle. I will keep my eyes on him too. And no funny business. I know you take people that dislike you like a challenge but PLEASE_

_Not_

_thIS_

_TIME!!!_

**Donghyuck:**

ditto hyung

i’m not going to try no funny business

you have my word

...

for

now

༻✦༺

Getting late to the meetings of this movie was kind of getting a usual thing. Donghyuck hated to admit that this time it was really his fault. After some curse words coming from the phone, and the quickest shower he ever took he was ready to go.

Taeil warned Hyuck one more time about his demeanor, which made him scowl. "You are two hours late again. Shut up and start listening to what I have to say."

Taeil made things even clearer now on their way to the first read-through. He reminded him of the talk they had few days ago through messages. 

The movie productors organized a table read with the whole cast and also as a casual gathering for the members. They had to get familiarized with each other, after all. 

“Hope you practiced that few lines we were working yesterday. You were right, they sounded a little flat. Remember what I told you about your costar, try to be polite and if there’s any problem you need to contact me first.”

“Yep, I tried to see that scene in a different point of view and that kinda worked for me,” Haechan smiled. “Also, don’t need to be worried about my costar. Of course, I noticed we have a lot of scenes together and I plan to be professional.”

Easy peasy. That’s what he thought and things were going fine when he met the cast in a small meeting room at the studio. Park Jisung, an actor who was playing the part as his best friend in the movie was so kind and nice. Hyuck could see them becoming friends on the set, playing around with the younger and shy actor. He just got a nice vibe coming out of Zhong Chenle, an Chinese rookie. They both were cuties.

Donghyuck apologized to them and then made a joke so he could break the ice. He could be wrong but at least he was a charmer.

"It's ok. The members wanted to film the table read to add to the film BTS later so we were waiting for the filming crew to arrive. It was in quite short notice,” one of the crew members smiled politely at Hyuck, “Mr.Huang is with the costume design crew now, since we plan to start filming as soon as possible.”

“We just need to gather the cast now that you arrived and we can start.”

It seemed so easy and in Haechan’s head until it was not. Mr. Huang arrived with three crew members and who Hyuck recalled that it was his agent. He looked frankly pissed. There was something wrong about his demeanor just staring at his face and at the crew members that followed him.

Eyes dark, eyebrows knitted and mouth so tight that Hyuck thought about the word grumpy. Hyuck could not help to stare at the way he walked into the room, lithe body making everyone stop to look at him. Was it because of his strong aura or just because he looked exquisite? 

Huang looked so arrogant with his white turtleneck, black coat and high waisted pants. His light grey hair was parted in the middle, few strands catching the superficial lights of the room. Hyuck had met people before like him, untouchable. There was a spell and Donghyuck could not find a way to tear it down. 

Well, at the least until Mr. Huang broke the silence and starred at Donghyuck like he killed his pet cats. Huang’s face changed abruptly, Hyuck could hear him scoff loudly.

“I guess we can start now that he _finally_ arrived”, he said leaving Donghyuck clueless.

Hyuck felt the strange and itchy feeling of shame crumpling inside him. They were around a lot of people, people that he was obliged to work for the following weeks.The cast, the filming crew, assistants, etc. Nice. These people pretended to ignore what was happening, but they still kept silent. 

Eyes on the man in front of him, who made him ache with embarrassment Hyuck could not say much. He apologized at least, he knew he was wrong. There was no need for such a fuzz or such a harsh treatment.

_I guess he is just an asshole, then._

Hyuck did what he did best, he acted. He pretended not to care, even that for a split of second. He smiled brightly and shrug his shoulders, then in a relaxed way he dropped himself in the chair. 

He wanted to ride his sharp comment like he would ride a joke. Huang would learn that Donghyuck was very good with them. That was an amicable start he was not expecting.

“Good,” someone from the crew instantly ran towards them, clearing their throat,” we shall start then.”

༻✦༺

Hyuck was not only famous and known about his charming features. Oh, no. People - well, at least, Taeil, would love to say how annoying he could be. A person that he fancied could be bullied and annoyed awfully just as much as a person he hated. There was a slight nuance between both. 

Yeri used to say that he was just awful at both. A person would fall in love with him just because Haechan made his or her life a living hell. He loved banter and he appreciated people who indulged him enough to keep up with his teasing.

At the current moment he was not pleased, Donghyuck tried to focus on the table read. The fact that the first scenes being read were all ‘Huang related’ he could not only do much than just to stare and follow his lines on the script. The first scenes were set in China so obviously they were in mandarin. 

Haechan knew that his costar was Chinese but when the first lines in mandarin were said by him, he could not help to stare in awe.

_Pity that he is an asshole. If not, I could get even more impressed._

He managed to follow the Korean version of the script just fine. Also, it was impossible not to watch Huang’s acting but Haechan was bitter enough to judge. Maybe after singsonging the ‘He’s an asshole, I hate him’ mantra inside his head. 

Haechan and Renjun did not share stares, it was just like they were ignoring each other. 

Today they would not rehearse scenes were both of their characters interacted, which Hyuck found to be a relief. Jisung and him rehearsed their first scene together were their characters discussed a rebellion. Hyuck assumed that it was Jisung’s first time doing a reading, the boy could not stop blushing and stuttering. He found it to be very cute that Hyuck let out a bright laugh. 

“It’s ok Jisung-ie. You’re doing so well,” the director said. “don’t need to be shy.”

Hyuck smiled at him when Jisung looked at him for assurance. What followed was a nice reading session. Hyuck got to know the rest of the cast and shared his ideas with the director. 

“Did he really need to do that?” Haechan put his sunglasses on. Taeil and Hyuck walked side by side through the parking lot. He found it to be the perfect place to mention what had happened earlier, now that they were finally alone.

The director let them go and called it a day after some arrangements in the script. Hyuck had an encounter with the dressing crew, even though his character’s clothes were not complex and literally plain the crew made sure everything was on the spot. On the next day they were going to discuss makeup and the filming locations.

“Didn’t know he was going to act up so soon,” Taeil laughed “It looks like we are going to have problems with him.”

“You damn right we are. Did you see how he acted? Like he had the right to scold me in front of everyone. We have to send him some flowers for the great impression…” 

Haechan worked with older actors who had a lot experience in the industry, more than he could even imagine. Some of them were jerks and a lot of them left excerpts of their experience with him. He expected to be one of them someday, to be part of the industry and leave a good impression...

“If he thinks I’m not worth his time then let him be.” Haechan said, even though inside him there was something that opposed his speech. He decided to not give that so much thought.

Taeil drove them off the parking lot, hands quick on the steering wheel. Haechan remembered how much Taeil hated driving cars like the one he was driving. He was a Mercedes kind-of-guy. Eyes sparkling and all. 

“I already told you we’re not going to buy this fight.”

_I’m not trying to, but he’s making it hard for me._

Later when they arrived at Haechan’s home Taeil received a call.

“He insisted to talk to you,” Taeil said while passing the phone to Hyuck, “By the way, it’s Mark.”

Haechan picked up the phone. 

“Markie poo, we missed you so much today,” Hyuck used the most annoying tone.

He heard Mark laugh. Mark was the silliest CEO’s son Hyuck had even seen. A heart of gold and fearless demeanor. Of course, Hyuck had to take a bite of him and he did when he debuted in the company. One time he confessed that he had a crush on Mark even though he was straight and engaged to a female lawyer. What a pity, Haechan thought back then. He was such a nice catch, still is if they asked him. They had a nice, playful and respectful relationship.

“ _Hey Haechanie. Pity I wasn’t able to go with you guys today. How was it?_ ”

Hyuck could admit it was great, which would not be a lie after all. Because to some extent it was…

“He did fine. The director liked him and complimented him today,” Taeil said while bending toward the phone on Hyuck’s ear. He stared at Hyuck begging with his eyes to forget what happened. Well, but he did not know Haechan by now?

Hyuck stared at him deadpan in the eyes. “Well, why wouldn't I do great, right? I’m this company _Star Actor_ , the one and only Lee Haechan.”

Mark let out a laugh. Taeil smiled at that, Haechan was happy to comply for now. 

“ _I knew you were going to nail it, H_.”

“Yeah, of course. Like promised. I did my job….” Haechan bit his lip. “Although it seemed hard to other people.”

Haechan could hear from where he was when Taeil dropped the glass bottle, which fortunately did not make much of a mess. _Taeil is such drama queen, for fuck’s sake._

“Fucker,” he heard Taeil gasp while he angrily cleaned the granite countertop.

“ _Is there something that I’m missing here?_ ” Mark asked oh-so innocently.

“Oh Dear, you have no idea…”

Haechan chose to use the speakerphone so he could lay down on his sofa and babble about certain co-star who made his life a little bit harder. Taeil at certain point could not listen Hyuck act like a shit and he was sure that Mark was dying because he could not stop laughing hard.

“Ok, ok…” Taeil stood up and took the phone from Haechan’s hand, “Now that you got into the details of Haechan’s little feud and had your fun… Could you please tell him to behave?”

“What the hell? I already told you I’m not doing a thing. Do you see this? This is me waving the white flag the whole time,” Haechan waved an invisible flag, all about the dramatics. 

“ _Huang Renjun is really a character…_ ” Mark said.

“Yeah, I know. I searched about the guy the other night, after he acted a bit hostile around Haechan.”

“Oh, you did? That’s why you're so afraid of what he could do with me? What’s so scary about this guy anyway?”

“He’s just a douche. I can send you some links later, all the terrible and cringey interviews people uploaded on Youtube. He said once, by the way that was the main reason I was worried with, that he _disliked_ singers who tried the acting career. 

Rumours were that he lost a part for a Chinese actor who was also a singer. The company then gave him the part of second lead. It was awful when they had to promote the movie together. They started a small quarrel on SNS and people were enjoying this kind of shit so much that it trended for weeks. Huang’s engagement got announced around that time and his ex-costar posted some heavy comments about them. The company wanted to sue him, but he preferred to delete his account from the website. Huang was banned from working with the studio he previously worked with and the other actor took a gap year.”

“And am I the next one?”

“ _He declined parts before and some directors blacklisted him,_ ” Mark spoke.

“He’s so fucking good at his job, though. Won his first award when he was 18. He went to America and worked with Burton and an independent Korean director. He is the shit these days.”

“ _Yeah, I guess you need not to make it personal. Things are going to go well. I don’t think you need to worry._ ”

Haechan was not worried but maybe Taeil was. People did not need to like or smile at him all the time. He was not a kid anymore. Just like Huang he had a reputation too and he knew a lot of people did not like him because of that. They were at a position were things seemed to be out of their reach, control… They had to deal with the consequences each day. Are people going to forget and forgive this and that? Who knows? Only time and new rumors could say.

“I’m not worried, Mark. But try to direct your thoughts to Taeil, instead. It seems like he’s going to pop a vein anytime now.”

Mark laughed, _“Oh, I can imagine. He’s already taking the bullets for you. Anyways, send me news I have a meeting now. See ya’, boys. Don’t forget to behave Hyuckie.”_

Taeil and Hyuck dropped the subject for the day. But it was impossible not to get curious about Huang Renjun later when Taeil sent him the link of the first article about the movie. Fans on social media were delighted and in a frenzy because of the news.

> **“Huang Renjun and Lee Haechan to star in a Sci-Movie, see the details…” - Comments (99)**
> 
> @hyuckie876sun: I’m so happy our Fullsun is back!! I can’t wait to watch the movie.
> 
> @CruelGameHyuck: @hyuckie976 I know I can’t wait either. But whos his costar tho? isnt he liu’s ex fiance?
> 
> @Mars_YeongclassicH: I love this director. Haechan is proving to be my favorite actor from this generation. Good job! 
> 
> @FamousRen0423: I can’t believe Renjun’s next work is a sci-fi movie!!!! What he can’t do? Renjun is amazing and so talented. I watched his last work yesterday and he did such a solid work. Thumbs up for him now. You have my support, Mister.
> 
> @desireh1uck: oh god not huang renjun, he ruined yixing’s career. hes so extra and rude i can’t believe that hyuck has to work with someone like him. awful awful. my baby hyuck doesn’t deserve someone like him. hope everything goes well! hyuck fighting!!
> 
> @HuangsGalaxy: @desireh1uck please delete your comment. we dont need more hate from something that happened in the past. Renjun is a hardworking actor just as much as Haechan I’m sure of that. Let’s support both of them.
> 
> @KimJayKK: @HuangsGalaxy @desireh1uck what are you guys talking about? whats the deal with renjun? i only know about haechans issue with his sister
> 
> @desireh1uck: @KimJayKK pls dont mention his s*ster, pls sensor the word. you should search renjun’s background, hes the meanie of the movie industry. guy really gives me the chills.
> 
> @HuangsGalaxy: @KimJayKK @desireh1uck Renjun is more than what the gossip outlets have to say about him. They only tell lies. 

Haechan scoffed at the comments. Articles and its comments section were the same after all. He used to be obsessed to read the comments, to see what people were thinking and talking about him. When the comments started to get unbearable after the rumors with his sister he decided to ignore and block the comments as much as he could. It took time for him to read and answer his fans on social media. Nowadays things were way better.

Taeil asked him to take a picture earlier so he could post on Instagram and boost the rumors about the movie. It was part of the positive promotion the company wanted. 

He composed a new description for the photo he took of himself on the mirror.

 **@leehaechan** : _Today was a good day._

He set the alarm on his phone and went to bed.

༻✦༺

“Isn’t that too much?” Renjun raised his eyebrows. 

Renjun did not see his costar arriving today. Although he knew that people were talking about what happened yesterday. He did not realize saying that would escalate to gossiping and whispering in the set. Jaemin yelled at him yesterday while they went home. Renjun had not changed his mind, he was right to call him out in front of the crew. Sooner or later people would do so. 

“But it’s not your job to do that. Off with a good start,” Jaemin said, hands on his temple. 

People sometime misinterpret fear with respect and he was aware of that. When Renjun arrived to the dressing room with the brightest smile and polite introductions the crew stared at him with wide eyes and short smiles. Renjun theorized they were gossiping just before he arrived. After the awkward introduction, tension started to drift away and he even found an opportunity to make a witty comment. 

That is why you should not judge a book by its cover, he thought.

Jaemin found him after he left the dressing room, handing him tall cup of hot chocolate he ordered earlier. He stared at the crew members with a raised eyebrow, they were all blushing and giggling after Renun left the room. 

“Well, guess you have more fans.”

“I’m a nice guy and people with good taste can recognize that.” Renjun raised the cup to his lips, a devilish smile on his face.

“Ok, Mr. Nice Guy.” Jaemin smiled. “I just talked with the director, you are rehearsing one of the scenes with your costar today. It’s just part of the read though but they want to test your chemistry before filming.”

“Chemistry? Are we a romantic pairing?”

“Don’t start now. Here’s what you’re going to do…”

Jaemin told Renjun how he planned to leave him and his costar have a bit of time alone after talking with the director. He was persistent saying that his costar conceded his time to do the same and he was willingly waiting to have a proper conversation with Renjun. 

“I want you do to the same thing you did with those girls from the crew, charm him,” Jaemin said and when he heard Renjun groan he continued, “or just try to talk with him for a bit. We’re travelling to the countryside next week and you’ll spend a lot of time together till the end of the filming.”

“Newsflash…”

“Great, I’ll take that as a yes. Drink up you hot cocoa and follow me, cutie.”

Unsettling anxiety bubble up when finished his hot chocolate. Jaemin handed Renjun the manuscript and told him his fantastic plan.

“I’m going to have a brief talk with the director, which means you guys will be left alone. Please don’t kill each other.”

Renjun was ready to come up with an answer when the director saw them and motioned with his hands for them to get in the meeting room. Jaemin winked, which took a lot not to rip off Jaemin’s eyes. Renjun walked in and unfortunately, he noticed right away that he was not alone.

“Yes, Jaemin, about what you wanted to discuss earlier….” the director’s voice was static for Renjun now.

Renjun did not know the reason why he felt too embarrassed to stare at Haechan now. Even when his eyes followed the motion where the man was now. It was impossible not to give a bit of attention now, but he pretended anyway.

When Haechan saw Renjun entering the room he felt a strange feeling creep on his chest. It was like his heart wanted to run away and get away for a bit. He tried hard to suppressed any bitter feeling but Hyuck could only hope for the worse now. 

His co-star looked different from the last time he had seen him. Since the first time Hyuck saw him he noticed how the corners of his mouth were naturally turned down, giving a kind of superior energy. _Snobbish_ , his mind quickly supplied. He looked nothing like in the digital photos, seeing in person was something else Haechan could not define. 

His hair has been cut and the gray strands were replaced by black. Haechan realized that it matched his brown eyes. 

Haechan was so deep in his thoughts that he almost missed when Renjun swiftly let out a ‘hello’.

Sitting on opposite chairs both gathered their thoughts and armors just like there was a battle ahead. Haechan smiled politely and gave a curt nod, which he thought it was good enough.

Renjun noticed how the man could smile so easily. He found it to be annoying just like everything he did. There was something shady about him with his golden skin and playful eyes. He looked boyish nibbling his full dry lips while looking to his cellphone.

“... sorry that you have to start without me. I’ve discussed with the screenwriter earlier and we thought that the scene which both of your characters met would be the most suitable for this session. I’ll let you guys alone for now. I’ll be back in a few.” 

Jaemin winked at Renjun, as he was saying _Behave_.

Renjun clicked his tongue. _Asshole, leave me alone._

They were left alone in the room. For the first few minutes both of them worked hard studying the script. Alone. Yes, they did not share a word. Only the sound of paper rustling could be heard. Sometimes both of them let out humming sound and whispers. Haechan thought it looked embarrassing.

It was until Haechan could not take it anymore. He could not keep reading the same sentences anymore, he needs to talk and take what he had inside his chest.

“Ok, hm…” he started, cleaning his throat once more, which by now was dry as the desert. “How can we…”

The scene was the one that would define their characters relationship. Haechan and Renjun’s characters did not have a good start, both of them swimming in misunderstandings. It took them awhile to understand each other. Haechan thought it was almost ironic. A cliché _life imitates art…_

“I think we can start with your first line, after you fall into the subway steps. What you think?” Haechan asked while going through the script.

_Silence._

Haechan looked up to make sure that Renjun left him talking alone in the room, but no he was there with eyes stuck on his shoes. 

Well, interesting.

Haechan tried again, “Hm, the line where you say ‘This must be a nightmare’.... right?”

Nothing, he heard not a single word and encouragement coming from him. 

“Well, isn’t that a bit childish?” Haechan burst out and finally that took a reaction out of him. 

Renjun took a deep breath, his face still emotionless. Haechan had a peek of how he looked like when annoyed and that was far from it. It was like they were playing _Who Breaks First Loses_ game which involved a lot of irritation and distress.

“I’m not interested in playing your games.”

“Game?” Rejun asked, for the first time. 

“Can we start rehearsing now?” Haechan curved his body so he could stare deeply into Renjun’s eyes.

“Are you giving orders now?”

“What do you think we’re here for? To play a staring contest?” Hyuck was starting to lose his temper. “No, my friend, we’re not. If you could just simply start acting please.”

Haechan was sure that Huang Renjun was a childish piece of shit. He could not believe the kind of argument they had minutes ago. It was stupid that he was acting like a spoiled brat when Hyuck have not anything to him. 

Renjun got into the character after that and delivered his lines, probably tired of playing snob. Hyuck tried to block his annoyance, even though it was not hard to admit that it helped him with his acting. Haechan’s character now had a even more fierce stance, all thanks to the asshole he was sharing a scene with.

He noticed how Renjun was quick delivering his lines with purpose and he was not far off. Donghyuck wanted to show the urgency the character was trying to show in that scene and he thought he did a good job.

It was a shame that he was the only one.

Renjun was not pleased, it was clear as water, his face all scrunched up and eyebrows drawn. Haechan had no intention to ask what did bother him, he did not give a fuck. At least that is what he told himself.

“No, go back and repeat that line”, he heard Renjun cut him off. “Your character should sound angrier here.”

Haechan became stiff. Did he hear that? For real? Renjun was not looking at him, he kept his head up and eyes stuck in the ceiling. Deep in his thoughts…

“Hm, excuse me?” Hyuck rasped out.

Renjun looked so serious, there was not a single sign of amusement in his eyes. He was not mocking Donghyuck or at least he made a good job at acting like it. Huang leaned and Hyuck followed, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, I mean…. Here”, and he pointed out at the part on the script where Hyuck lines could be found, “when you leave the station, you need to sound uptight. I almost killed you and your friend. I could’ve died if you wished so and I acted like that.... Try it next time.”

There were few times that Hyuck was left speechless in life and that situation went straight to the list. He was left in awe. 

“Maybe next time you can try riling me up a bit more then”, he winked and smiled tightly.

Renjun tilted his head a bit ready to ask for explanation when the director finally arrived. Both actors did not notice how they were leaning so close, like they were sharing a secret.

 _Finally! God, I’m about to explode._ Hyuck breathed out loudly. 

Following a request of the cheerful director both of them rehearsed the scene again. The most amazing aspect about acting in Hyuck’s opinion is that you can get lost in one’s reality. Head full of the character he was playing, trying his best to portrait him the best way. He did exactly what Renjun said and if he saw his smug smile when they ended, after receiving a big round of applause from the director, he had nothing to say. 

Everything for art.

༻✦༺

The filming started at the countryside and Renjun and Hyuck were not getting closer to a truce. The little things got them a lot like when Hyuck started singing out of nowhere on the set. Renjun found it to be so annoying even though the rest of the cast seemed enchanted by the sound of his voice.

“Do I need to remind you that he’s a singer, Renjun?” Jaemin said when he saw Renjun’s petty expression.

Renjun forgot to call Jaemin off after he caught him downloading Donghyuck latest album online. It seemed like it was the kind of music Jaemin was fond of. 

No there was no need to remind him. It was old news by now. Renjun did not try to hide how that habit of his bothered him, that’s why he mumbled a lot during the set and his face was always scrunched up between the scenes. He could not wait for the filming in China next month, he found peace in this thought. He would be far away from him.

Renjun worked a lot with other actors during the production, but he spent a lot of time with Zhong Chenle. Bright kid with the weirdest laughter he had ever seen. A rookie that Renjun was weirdly willing to help and that made the filming a little bit less burdensome.

However, there was Lee Donghyuck and it meant only one thing… Problem. 

He was late again, Renjun noted. 

Third day on the set and first day filming with Donghyuck. Today they were going to do the filming in a location on the studio. 

Renjun was ready, make up done and redone for the third time. He was already dressed in an awful red suit, getting sweaty because of the fabric sticking to his skin.

It made him even hotter, the stress and anger of waiting for his costar to arrive once more drove him nuts. He saw how the makeup crew kept fanning his face so the makeup would not melt.

“Are you fucking kidding me? He’s an hour late and no one is going to say a thing?” Renjun whispered at Jaemin. 

Jaemin let out a deep breath. “Please, Renjun… Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“This hardly could be taken as a rookie mistake.”

The last time Renjun saw Donghyuck was during the small read session they had with the director. It did not take long to notice how Donghyuck and Renjun’s characters were opposites. They were filled with different ambitions and distinct traits. Renjun noticed too that since _tormenting_ each other in the slightest made acting become even heavier and more stimulating. 

Jaemin could picture the headline on the shitiest gossip page tomorrow. He was worried Renjun would make a scene in front of the crew until Haechan walked just like nothing had happened, like he was not one hour late for the filming. Part of him knew this was enough fuel to get Renjun’s tongue out of control. Unfortunately, he could not do much, he only hoped the mess was not big enough to clean the next day.

༻✦༺

Renjun could not take petulance. When he saw Haechan walking his way to the set, he expected an explosion of apologies coming from him. And yet nothing came from him. He rushed to get here, clothes rumpled and hair in a mess. 

Jaemin told him not to make another nemesis, which made Renjun roll his eyes. He was not getting another nemesis, but he was going to teach him a lesson. His mind was bubbling with negative thoughts and pettiness. Someone needed to say some tough words to that boy.

“I think you need to take your profession a little bit more serious.” he said finally.

Haechan bit his lip, innocence clear in his eyes. “And I think you should take care of your own business, Super Star.”

Haechan did not even know where that ridiculous pet name came from, but he found it suitable. Haechan’s quirky brain 1 - 0 Haechan’s principles.

Haechan knew Renjun would be angry, he was not even thinking about it closely. But he could not deny smiling when the thought went through his head earlier.

The makeup crew rapidly ran to Haechan while he sat in front of the dressing room mirror. Renjun watched him get ready while standing there, just staring. 

“What? Too busy thinking about killing me to say something? C’mon. you can tell me your fantasies, maybe I can help you with them.”

The costar kept silent staring deeply into Haechan’s reflection in the mirror.

 _Is he going to keep staring?_ Haechan thought. 

Renjun did not move, he kept ogling just like he finally got the power to read people’s mind and now he was doing the same with Haechan. Undressing and dressing his thoughts, finding his flaws and finding out about his whole life. It felt too personal and tiring at the same time. 

Hyuck did not say a thing either, he stared at Renjun but his eyes were too dark to bare. He picked up his phone and pretended to text someone while the makeup team worked.

When they were finished, they left a warning about the filming. They were starting in five minutes and that’s when Renjun finally moved. He was just waiting for them to leave, then. Oh well…

“Let me just tell you this…” he started, mouth thin as paper. Eyes desperate and cold.

_Oh, god, give me strength._

“People are not always going to be kind to you. You should’ve known that by now”, his tone was dry. “you can’t always expect them to understand the meaning behind your actions, believe me. They don’t give a fuck about what you think.”

Haechan was starting to think that Renjun wanted to give him the ‘being an celebrity 101 lessons’ right now. Too bad that he was too old for this kind of shit. Hyuck could only laugh at his efforts.

“Thanks, Superstar. Anything else you want to teach about the kind of shit I’ve been dealing my whole life?”

Haechan stood up from the chair, turning around just to stare at Renjun. “And here am I trying to get things inside your head and you still think this is a joke”

“No, I don’t but for you I can make an exception” Hyuck smiled. “I really love when you try to piss me just before we have to film together. Have you noticed that too?”

Renjun did not even react. Haechan got closer to him, they were now face to face.

“It gives me an extra encouragement to try kicking your ass on screen. Because I see that you’re working hard to make me hate you and vice versa.” Haechan laughed darkly. He was so close to Renjun now, he could see how his eyes were dark pools. Emotionless, he pitied. He was expecting to get a reaction out of him with those words. Maybe if I press him a little more.

“I don’t know what you think about me. I’m different from you. I can have a conversation with you, talk about your day and then behind your back talk about how I hate your guts. That’s how things work, I know that. I’m not some dumb naive kid. Don’t underestimate me.”

He saw now that Renjun was trying hard not to react. Eyes following the lines of Haechan’s face, reading his expression. Maybe Haechan had one of his madman expressions he practiced so much but never could show to the world. 

Renjun’s red painted lips opened as if he wanted to speak, but Haechan was not finished yet.

“That’s why, Super star, I’ve chosen not to give a fuck about what people like you think either.”

“You shouldn't talk with people like me like that.” Renjun’s voice was uneven. 

“Oh ‘cause you’re better than me? Did you arrive on time?” he snapped. “Why should I listen to someone who acts like he’s superior but actually is only an asshole? This is not how this industry works, honey. Bet you’ve noticed that by now.”

Haechan could not understand why they were so close now. He could feel Renjun’s breath on lips, soft and warm puffs of air hitting his skin. He was obsessed with Renjun’s looks now, so eager and hungry to bite back at Donghyuck. But he could not. They were glaring at each other, both not knowing what that kind of urge meant.

Renjun only shook back to reality when he noticed how his eyes could not leave Haechan’s lips anymore, so he left the dressing room. The alarm of the studio ringing off so loud but he could not hear with all the buzzing inside his head.

The filming was a blur. Renjun did his best delivering his lines and trying to fit the mood of the scene. He did not have to work hard to shake off the somber mood when he and Hyuck had to film a long and heated dialogue. The director complimented both Renjun and Hyuck, he said something about them being natural beings. 

Hyuck let out a laugh at that, even though it did not reach his eyes. 

༻✦༺

Jaemin begged Renjun to tell what happened in the dressing room yesterday when he was convinced to forget. However, he could not. 

Thoughts of Haechan being so angry at him and actually shutting him up with his witty comments filled his head. It was so intriguing and outrageous that someone like him could act like Mr.Know-it-all. An impossible task to make him admit being wrong. 

“If you used that I’m-the-senior-actor-here thing I can’t blame him for getting angry. Oh my God, I should schedule a therapy ‘cause the way you treat people is so wrong.”

“You’re not even that old, you two have like a two-year gap.” 

“I don’t know why I’ve expected to drag you from that dressing room with your foot on his ass. But you just talked, huh?”

“Hope that now you’ve learnt your lesson. Never seen you like that.”

For Renjun’s loss of words Jaemin had a remedy, he could not stop talking and talking. Renjun just sat there on his hotel room drinking a good cup of tea. 

“...at least no one wrote an article about it,” Jaemin said.

“Oh, yeah, we would make an amazing pair on gossip websites. _The Chinese asshole and the Korean womanizer_ ”, Renjun snickered. It was starting to get tiring.

“He called you an asshole, didn’t he?”

Renjun let out a groan, “Yeah, he fucking did.”

༻✦༺

In the movie Haechan and Renjun’s characters were getting closer by the passing of the days and weeks. Even being opposites, light and darkness, they finally started to understand each other.

 _Life imitates art my ass!_

No, they were not getting closer in real life. No, they were not even talking. Renjun arrived earlier to the set, talked with the crew and the cast. He was amicable to those. Haechan did the same, when he arrived he sat down with the crew during the meals, talked a bit with them and then with the writers. But they never talked to each other, only if they needed to.

Renjun arrived at the set really angry one day. He practiced the lines beforehand but there was something wrong about it. Renjun could not describe it, the mood was wrong. He was forcing too much for the lines to go out and make some effect, but they were not working.

Maybe because he had to pretend that his character was finally convinced Haechan’s character was righteous and a friend. He was in a different set of mind. While rehearsing the scenes his voice tone was amiss, his posture and even the emotions he was trying to portrait. None of them matched the scene.

Renjun’s head was full of all the things that made him dislike Hyuck and he kept repeating the list while delivering the lines. 

To make it worse Haechan noticed. 

Renjun filmed a short scene outside the studio before going inside to film with Park Jisung and Haechan. And of course, to make it better, Haechan noticed.

It was impossible not to notice, actually. Unfortunately, Haechan seemed pretty aware of how Renjun’s acting worked by now. He was nervous, his voice sounded so distant and he could not stop blinking. 

There were so many takes lost because of that. The guy could not get the five-minute scene right. Mr. Park did his best trying to disperse Renjun’s nervousness even though the one did not want to admit so.

Haechan pursued his lips in annoyance. 

“Ok, Take 14. Cameras. Light. Action.” someone from the crew yelled. 

Haechan repeated the first lines of the scene like he did many times that day, eyes focused on Renjun. He tried his best to sound calm.

 _Many people saw me as a pawn. I’ve always been like this, invisible and broken beyond repair. Creating that machine was my answer to those people. That I’m not just another… Another… Huh-_ Renjun stopped, his mouth slack and eyes stuck in the ground, trying to remember the next lines which went missing.

“Oh, god.” Haechan muttered.

“Wait. Don’t ruin it, I got it.” his co-star spitted out.

“Yes, I know. I’ve heard you the last time and the last time... and the last time.” Haechan laughed.

Renjun looked livid, eyes open while he stared at Haechan like he told the most unpleasant joke in the whole world. Then he let out a dark smile with no teeth.

“This is the tenth time we’re trying to record this scene and you keep forgetting the lines. Even I must know them by heart now.”

Of course, Renjun was not pleased after hearing that, but his face did not change much than before. He had an awful sulky expression, he crossed his arms and tilted his head a bit to the side. He struggles to look tough in front of Haechan.

“Really? Can you do them all by yourself then?” Renjun asked with a raised eyebrow, he was not betting with him, but he could not help teasing back. “Maybe it’s better if I leave so you’ll be able to start your _monologue_.”

 _Do you guys have a thing for voyeurism?_ Jaemin asked Renjun one time. _Everytime you guys start fighting it is in front of people._

The director mumbled something, even though Donghyuck and Renjun were busy gawking each other they noticed how the crew started to disperse. The director called out for an early break. 

It did not take much for Renjun to depart to the dressing room. Donghyuck eyed Taeil behind the cameras, he was waiting for him. Taeil expression was indifferent but Hyuck knew he was just waiting the right moment to question him. That’s why Donghyuck made a detour… to the dressing room, leaving a confused Taeil waiting.

༻✦༺

“Don’t need to start, Jaemin. I’ve got everything under control. He jus- just got me a little bit agitated.” Renjun ruffed out when he heard distinct clicking sound of the door. Eyes closed and hands stuck in his temples massaging the sensitive skin roughly.

“Is that so?” Renjun’s eyes shot open, staring at the mirror in front of him he saw Hyuck’s reflection. It was impossible not to hate how Hyuck looked at him with a sly smile on his face. Well, guess that’s it.

“Haven’t you had enough?” Renjun said, “Look, I’m tired, ok? I just want to do well, finish the filming and not see you for the rest of the week.”

They never wanted the same thing. But Renjun was right, after today’s filming they were not going to film together for the rest of the week. The filming in China was the next one in the schedule, where they will shoot the time travelling scenes and the prologue of the movie. 

“I know I’m just a rookie,” Haechan started, “but I may know some things about what you’re feeling right now. It’s hard to conceal such hard emotions and pretend that everything is alright sometimes. I’m too sensible and when working with my co-stars I like to read their characters lines too, to make it right.”

Hyuck dragged himself closer to Renjun. Just like the other day, they were again staring at each other through the mirror.

“You’ve to pretend our characters never had a fall out. Let’s have a truce for now. Think about that, maybe that will help you a bit.”

There was something so deep about that, Renjun could not place his emotions. Hyuck was talking to his echo, his image in that mirror that now did look anything like him. Both were dressed in their characters clothes and skin. He could only stare in awe while Haechan blabbed about truce.

Haechan was the reason he could not manage to work properly today and now he was trying to get some sense into Renjun’s thick head. Renjun needed truce, truce for his torpedo thoughts and his beating heart.

Renjun could feel himself blushing at Haechan smile. He was so self-assured, brown eyes and curls shining as he tried to convince Renjun about what he had in mind. There was nothing else to fight about. _Let’s just finish this shit._

Renjun grumbled an answer, totally not thinking about how Haechan’s eyes made him feel. Angry… yes, so angry. 

“Well, whatever he said I think you damn well deserved it.” Jaemin whispered when Renjun came back to the stage without his sour demeanor. 

༻✦༺

The filming that week finally got to an end and so were shootings in Korea. Almost two months of filming. The movie company started to boost the idea of half of the filming done on articles online. Haechan and Renjun's faces were everywhere and so were photos of the cast shooting the movie.

Both of their names were trending on SNS. Comments about how people were excited to see both actors on screen were shared on comments section and on Twitter. 

Haechan saw Taeil busy that Saturday morning while he went through Haechan’s twitter mentions. He was selecting the best ones so Haechan could answer later today. 

“I think someone from the movie shared their memories from the set and some of them are about you and Renjun.” Taeil said.

Oh, nice. Now the fans finally got to know all the juicy details about their feud. Which one, Haechan thought, was going to be the bad guy this time? He bet it was himself, he was not really one of the media’s favorites. 

“Do I need to know what they’re saying?”

“Uh, no. Nothing much, just a few fan comments about the filming. _Yada-yada, yada-yada_. Oh, she’s a Renjun fan.” Here comes the part she’s going to demonize my persona. “They had a brief encounter with him on the set and they think he’s really handsome and cute.”

Haechan scoffed at that. “Oh, ok.”

“What? Are you ready to say otherwise? I’ve been holding myself to say something about it after I’ve seen what happened at the set. But you know he’s totally your type.”

“Oh my god, please tell me I did not hear that.”

Taeil laughed at Hyuck teatrics.

Ridiculous. Imagine being attracted to someone like that man? A complete waste of time and not even a madman would do something like this.

“Attractive? Moon Taeil are you insane? He’s far from attractive. Have you seen him when he opens that mouth? A complete asshole. I couldn’t find that man attractive.”

Taeil’s face did not change, he thought it was funny to see Hyuck appalled by that comment. It made him feel even more giddy he said so. 

That was not far from the truth, Hyuck always liked the feisty ones (he said that himself). Renjun had the finest pretty features that could manage to catch Hyuck’s attention. A silver tongue and striking eyes, that made him crazy. Taeil was tired of seeing Hyuck’s ex-lovers, he definitely knew he had a type. 

“Laugh all you want but the heart wants all it wants, darling.” Taeil closed the laptop lid. “He leaves you all riled up and I’ve seen your searching history. You’re not as subtle as you think.”

Haechan felt the blood leave his face and rush back quickly. He never thought Taeil would expose him like that. His brain engines worked hard to give a credible response but everything was just static. Taeil eyed him just like a cat who got the cream.

“I-I hm- It’s nothing like that, actually,” he started, “I was going through one of those articles you’ve sent me the other day and I’ve just clicked on it by mistake.”

“Kaaaay… That article got a really good picture of him. Don’t you think?”

Taeil was gagging for his reaction. He knew Hyuck was too proud to admit that he got caught in the act. 

_They were not nice pictures, after all._ Haechan was never going to admit that after the day they declared a truce, he spent the whole night going through every article that mentioned Renjun. 

It was the day Renjun let him in, he finally won that round. He could not stop thinking about how his costar stared at him that day, the image was stuck in his head. It was even worse when he found the videos of old interviews. He was so smart, charming the hell out of the interviewers. He got them all on the palm of his hands with his silver tongue. Eyes glossy… The devil.

Hyuck eventually understood why people thought he was rude and noisy. He was devoted to his opinions. Haechan could not help laughing after watching the video where Renjun argued about k-pop idols. 

“Can you please stop looking through my search history? Next time you do that I’m going to give you a really nice thing to catch upon.”

“A photo of Renjun shirtless on a bed? No, thank you.”

Haechan groaned. “I’m not attracted to him, ok? I’ve talked to you last time, we had a truce.”

Taeil raised an eyebrow. Then he changed the subject handing Hyuck the laptop, “Here, I’ve selected only the best ones. Don’t talk about the script, don’t give out too much spoilers and it’s best if you could play safe with the song recording too. We’ll release a statement next week.”

Haechan picked out the laptop and after opening the lid he started to type.

༻✦༺

“Did he say something about me?” Renjun asked Jaemin after he mentioned that Lee Haechan’s name was trending on SNS today. 

“Why? Curious to know if the tea has been spilt?” 

Renjun and Jaemin just had dinner at home. They were planning the China trip for the next week and stalking Renjun’s social media. 

Renjun rolled his eyes. “I don’t think he would be bolder enough to diss me on SNS.”

The living room was dark and chilly, Jaemin pushed his iPad and sat across from Renjun on the sofa. Just like any other day after work.

“And the world doesn’t revolve around you either. The kid just replied to some fans on Twitter, he did his fan service clean and good.”

Renjun unlocked the phone screen and clicked on the Instagram icon. “I don’t like Twitter that much, that’s why I have you to like and share posts there.”

“You should give it a try. K-pop idols these days are all about mention parties, ‘cause it helps to raise popularity during promotions.”

Renjun scrolled through his Instagram feed, he double tapped the photos he saw without even a second glance. It was automatic. There was nothing that caught his attention there. “I don’t like talking to them through text. I prefer sending videos. I hope they’re satisfied with the Weibo lives.”

“Thank god you’re fond of these. You’re such a sweet talker, they love when you do that.” Jaemin commented. 

Jaemin currently reminds Renjun to post pictures and videos on Weibo and Instagram, since these are the only social media platforms he seemed to like. Posting artsy and mysterious pictures of the skyline and nature are part of his hobbies. However Jaemin still thinks he should post more selfies. 

“They like your pretty face too, give them something to live,” he said.

_I bet Haechan’s Instagram is full of his face. All indecently created as a bait for younger fans, full of fan service._

“They’re asking why you haven’t followed the movie cast yet. Well, I guess I forgot to to do your job.” Jaemin read one of Renjun’s fans tweets. 

“By the movie cast they mean Lee Haechan? I’m not even sorry for the lack of interactions we’re going to have after the filming ends.”

“Sometimes being famous is all about sacrifices, Junnie.” Jaemin mocked him.

Later that night after they established a comfortable silence Jaemin started to stir up issues from the past.

“You never told me what happened in the dressing room…”

Renjun forgot that he left Jaemin on the dark about their ceasefire. He thought Jaemin must have connected the dots, he was sure everybody on the set realised the slight change. The filming after that went smoothly and they all wrapped stuff up quickly. 

“Nothing, we just talked.”

“Figures…” 

It was hard to wrap his head around how he had been so foolish that day. 

“He made me realize that I was overthinking some stuff, about my character’s feelings—”

“Feelings about him?”

“Hm. Yeah, I guess so? But not how your weird mind is thinking. There’s nothing to overlook about our relationship, or I think at least it was like this. We decided to have a truce for now.”

“We’ve already discussed this, Jun. I don’t know how this feud started but you and him needed to talk about it. Guess now you can find something in common.”

“We’re just too different, but I agree with you that we went a bit too hard.” 

Jaemin had the I-told-you-so expression on his face. “Sure, I get it.”

“I guess I don’t want that thing to happen again. People already think I’m a douche to my colleagues and that I bully them for fun.”

“Are you talking about Zio?”

Renjun only nodded. “It was different because Liu was in it too. Zio also blackmailed me in the end but, uh- Yeah. I hate the kind of image people have of me now, and it’s all my fault.”

“Jun, if you want to, I can talk with Haechan’s folk, y’know? We can propose a deal, like-”

“We agreed on _slowing down_ and that’s good for now.” Renjun cut him off. He did not want any deals with Haechan. It was not worth it. They were going to finish that movie and never see each other again.

༻✦༺

Renjun and Haechan slowed down just like Renjun wanted. Finally, in China the filmings started that week. Haechan did not have scenes the first week but he went to the set anyway. Renjun was curious to know the reason why, but of course he was not going to ask.

Renjun found it to be funny that Haechan was always there to watch him on his scenes. Maybe funny is a little bit too much? Irritating, perhaps? Yes, probably that one. Most of the scenes were in Chinese too so, he did not see a reasonable answer for his presence on the set.

Renjun did not want to admit but at certain point it started to bother him a lot. Why? Well, Donghyuck was doing anything, to be honest. He just sat there behind the cameras, just like the people of the crew. He saw Renjun get into the many movie equipments that were related to the action scenes. He saw Renjun act and give his all in front of the cameras. Maybe now people were going to start talking how Haechan and Renjun were BFFs that followed each other everywhere. 

It bothered him that he was so quiet. Haechan’s eyes followed him everywhere, from the time off screen to the time the cameras started to roll. He felt it. That made him work even harder, to show Haechan what he was capable of. If Lee Haechan needed more proof that Renjun was a talented actor. 

When the filming ended that week Donghyuck finally came to Renjun on the dressing room. Renjun was not expecting that. It was late at night, most of the movie crew already went to hotel rooms. Renjun was waiting for Jaemin to comeback with his makeup bag and some food. He was too tired. He lied down on the smaller sofa of the room.

Renjun raised his eyebrow when Haechan entered the dressing room. Haechan was wearing a bucket hat that hid his eyes and hair. Barefaced in his golden skin glory. All snuggled up in comfy clothes. In a way Renjun was sure most of his fans have not seen him yet. 

“After hours on the studio?” Renjun asked.

Haechan sat on the sofa next to the door with a smile on his face. 

“No, I’m trying to learn from the best, Super star,” he said.

Renjun scoffed at his answer, “Is that your way to compliment me? Guess you should try harder.”

“You’re the one here trying to fish compliments. I’m just visiting the set of the movie I’m starring in,” Haechan deadpan. 

Renjun shook his head laughing a bit. 

Donghyuck watched him, eyes stuck on his face. That made Renjun feel self-conscious of how his face looked awful with dried makeup and eyeshadow. He did not want to look hideous in front of that man, it only made him feel weaker. 

“So…” Renjun supplied, waiting for Haechan’s response, even though his eyes still bore on his face. 

Haechan then explained that his agent’s boyfriend lived in Beijing so they decided to come early to visit him. 

“You visited the shootings the whole week.”

“Oh, did you notice? Like I said, learning from the best,” Haechan winked. 

Renjun could not understand Haechan at all, but now he was one-hundred percent of that. Was he playing one of his games? Was he being serious? Why was he around the studio, following Renjun around like a shadow? 

God, it made him a little bit cross. Renjun’s expression turned sulky and Haechan’s smile drifted off his face.

“Wait, why did you look angry? Did I make you uncomfortable in any way?”

Renjun tried to read Haechan’s face to see if he was making fun at him. However, he looked legitimately shocked at that. It’s like he did not mean it to keep following Renjun during the shooting to bother him, but because he had other reasons. God, so confusing.

“I’m tired, _Haechan_.” 

The way Renjun pronounced his name, the way his mouth let out that sound. It was maybe the first time Haechan heard him saying his name. That made him feel giddy inside.

Haechan took his bucket hat off, fingers going through his hair. 

“Today was a long day for me. I hope you'd realize that by now since I’m too tired to keep this banter.” Renjun let out a deep breath.

Haechan frowned. 

“I’m not trying to start an argument, Super star. Truce, remember?”

Renjun sit back on the sofa, he rearranged the robe he was wearing. What was taking Jaemin so long? He needed to leave, leave to keep himself safe from Haechan. 

Haechan suddenly let out a laugh. “I really do make you feel uncomfortable. Gosh, you must have read something awful about me.”

“Why do you even care, Haechan? We’ve established a truce,” Renjun bit back, eyes now stuck on the ground, “but that doesn’t mean we’ve to pretend we are friends.”

“Have people ever told how hard it is to keep a conversation with you?” 

Ok, great. Renjun rolled his eyes. _The truce is down. It was great while it lasted… I guess._

“They have now. Have people ever told how bothersome you are?”

Donghyuck looked taken back by Renjun, like he was disappointed about Renjun’s manner.

“We don’t need to pretend we’re friends, because it’s clear this is the last thing you want right now.” Haechan shook his head.

Renjun could not open his mouth. He was numb. There was nothing that he could say that would make things better. His head was full of thoughts that seemed so petty and harsh. 

“I don’t want to tire you anymore. Guess I should leave, then. Good night.” Haechan got up and walked to the door.

Renjun’s mouth was dry when he asked, “Why did you come here?”

Haechan turned around, he fixed his eyes on Renjun for few seconds and then gave him a tight smile.

“I don’t know. I think I’ve lost my mind,” he mumbled. “My words got lost in the middle of these demonstrations of antipathy.”

Frank, dry and painful. That’s what it felt like for Renjun when Haechan closed the door on his way out.

_What do you him to say? You were so mean to him. You did not even listen to what he wanted to tell, and you were curious about it. But no, you have always to ruin stuff._

He hoped that someone would kill him, a slow and painful death. That would be enough to take his mind and heart from the kind of confusing feelings going through his head now. 

༻✦༺

Renjun never had the courage to come up to Haechan to talk after that night. Jaemin came back and saw him in distress and thought it was because of the shootings. Which made Renjun nod and lie at him when he asked the reason why he looked so down.

Renjun and Haechan did not talk. Not in the set, not even between the scenes. Only when they were acting. It felt weird, it made Renjun feel some kind of uneasiness. God knows how he finished filming that month. 

It was better that way. 

Haechan was not in Renjun’s way. He did not attempt any small talk, because he finally learnt his lesson. Taeil said he was moping. And yes, he was. He ogled Renjun when he was not looking, he checked his social media looking for photos of him. Looking out for his smile, his cute eyes and dark locks. But still he denied what he was feeling. He was still so confused.

God hated him, Haechan thought. That was the only reason, because he was hungry for intimacy and to talk with that man. Renjun was brilliant. However, this is everything that he could not have now. 

They were wrapping up with the shootings, Renjun and Hyuck would part for now. That was bittersweet. They would meet someday after six months or so for the promotions, which made Renjun feel far from joyful. 

He should be happy because Haechan and him did not have a thing going on… Right? They were only costars who did not get along well… Well… Renjun did not know how his feelings could change in few days.

The wrap up party was simple, most of the people working on the movie were tired. The company planned something nice, a delicious meal on a restaurant in Beijing. It was cozy and light, just what Haechan needed right now. 

Renjun felt radiant. Nothing better than finishing a movie. He could finally get a little bit tipsy and relax, even though Jaemin warned him to hold his liquor.

“The press wants to take a photo of you and Haechan.” Jaemin whispered later that night when Renjun was quietly enjoying the music and the sounds of the crew talking and laughing.

Renjun sipped on his almost empty cup of soju. Jaemin would not take a no for an answer. He could lie, say he was too drunk and the pictures could look awful but Jaemin would just drag him there. So, he did what he has been told. 

God knows where Haechan was now, probably _chitchatting_ one of the crew members or making jokes about Renjun to the press. You never know. What impressed Renjun was that Haechan was indeed talking to the press, all smiles and soft eyes. There were at least five people crowding his costar, all giggly and charmed by him.

Haechan’s smile did not get into his eyes, but he was doing his best to give the press rats what they wanted.

“ _Oh, it’s Huang Renjun_ ,” someone said in Chinese. “ _Mr. Huang, we’re delighted to see you one more time. We’re from ELLE China._ ”

Renjun smiled politely and bowed. “ _Hello, pleasure is mine._ ”

Haechan eyes darted to where Renjun was. He saw when reporters walked back so Renjun could get closer to him. _That man is from the royalty._

Haechan had been distracting them for a few minutes when all the questions were about Renjun. He politely answered all the questions about him. He said his costar was a hardworking man and he was proud of the movie they were working on. 

He starred at Renjun while he spoke with the reporters in Chinese. Renjun stood in front of him and the photographers did not lose the opportunity to take photos of them. It felt too weird, that feeling of longing. He knew he was watching Renjun with spark in his eyes. Hope he did not look like an idiot though. 

“ _How was working with Mr. Lee? We heard a lot about you…_ ” the male reporter asked.

Renjun let out a laugh, the ones that always worked with the press. He eyed Haechan beside him who expectantly waited for him to finish the interview. Hyuck had a little crease on his forehead, as if he was trying hard to understand what has been spoken. Maybe he was waiting for Renjun to ruin everything or make him uncomfortable in front of the press. 

“ _My costar is a talented actor; it was lovely to work with him in this movie. We shared so many memories and our experiences, it was really great. It left a deep impression on me. We did our best, and I hope our fans support us in the future._ ”

That comment seemed to please them. They then asked the two movie stars to get closer so the picture could be taken.

Renjun and Haechan stood beside each other, arms slightly touching. It still looked awkward and staged. 

“Hope you only had good things to say about me,” Haechan whispered as the flashes went on. 

Renjun never looked so beautiful, his side profile was gorgeous and if Haechan was not careful he would let it out. Renjun smirked at Haechan’s comment. He found it funny. He liked to play with Hyuck feelings, right? 

_When did the ‘he’s an asshole’ mantra went out and the ‘he’s gorgeous’ appeared?_

For the first time that day Renjun turned his head and looked straight in Haechan’s eyes. It happened so quickly, in a moment they were beside each other with arms not even touching and then Renjun had his arm wrapped around Hyuck’s waist. There, still beside him. Smile big. 

His eyes went down to Haechan’s lips too fast that no one could see it. God, that’s crazy. Haechan’s body tensed up. They were in front of the cameras for god’s sake, he could not tease him like that. If that was considered teasing, anyways. 

Flashes went on. 

“There’s only one way to find out,” Renjun spoke, “and it’s reading the article.”

༻✦༺

Haechan could not sleep that night. After the small conference with the press that took place his costar disappeared. Haechan knew it was for the best. His head was full of thoughts of Renjun now. 

But there it was Haechan, waiting for the article to be published. He had a flight booked tomorrow morning and still he could not sleep thinking about the article. 

What the fuck did he say about me? Why all the mystery? 

Renjun could not find any sleep. There was this endless headache. That’s what you get after drinking so much. 

The night was a blur after the small encounter with Haechan. Jaemin took him to the hotel and sent him off to bed. His agent claimed he was too drunk to even stay outside, at least that was he said. Renjun needed to sober up and sleep.

But that was impossible when all he thought was the way his hand fit Hyuck’s waist. The soft touch of the suit fabric in his hand and the perfume… 

In a moment he laid down on the bed, unbuttoning his shirt and taking off his shoes lazily and in the other moment he was searching for Haechan’s Instagram. Well, fuck him if he wanted to see what the other man had to say about the other night.

There was nothing much there about tonight. But Hyuck still posted a photo of him dressed up, eyes closed and smile on his face. It has been taken two hours ago. The man was beaming.

Renjun let the picture disappear on his screen and then another one popped out. The picture was in black & white, maybe because Haechan’s face was bare. His hair was moussed and it looked really soft. Cute. That one was taken just seconds ago. 

Oh, shit! Renjun stilled. He just realized Haechan could see that he checked his stories feed on Instagram. Oh shit. He got caught. 

“Good job, big brains.” Renjun face slapped. 

He threw his phone on the other side of the bed and closed his eyes. It was better if he just slept. 

_Vrrrrr._

_Vrrrrr._

_Vrrrr._

Renjun groaned while he felt the mattress vibrate, because his phone was ringing. It must be Jaemin checking on him. 

“Yeah,I’m fine. I haven’t died yet, Jaemin,” he said.

Laughter, which definitely did not sound like Jaemin’s bubbly one. It was way deeper, sultry. It sends shivers down Renjun’s body.

“ _You have to stop mistaking me for Jaemin,”_ Hyuck - oh yes - said.

Renjun sit up hastily, phone stuck on his ear. It must be a nightmare and he was not drunk enough for this.

“What the hell? How did you get my number?” Renjun dumbly asked. 

“Sorry, I might have threatened your agent, or at least I made my agent do the dirty job for me.”

Of course, Jaemin would do this. He knew him. He would send a message later ‘I’m sorry :) Love ya’ and occasionally a package of dumplings. Dirty bastard.

“Course,” Renjun spit out,” so… you’ve threatened my agent to get my phone number and then proceed to call me in the middle of the night. Sounds fun.”

“ _Oh, god. You’re so boring._ ” Haechan laughed. “ _Wanted to talk with you since you left so early_.”

No?

“ _Hm, no?_ ” Did he say no? Renjun swore he did not. “ _You’re so straightforward, sometimes, Super star_.”

Renjun kept quiet, maybe he would give up and end the call. Renjun thought about ending it himself.

“ _I’m leaving tomorrow_ ,” Haechan sighed.

 _Yes, I know_. Renjun wanted to say. It was obvious he had to leave; the shooting ended. Donghyuck had to go back to South Korea… and maybe that was part of the problem between them.

“What you want me to do?” he asked instead. _Really smooth_ , you see…. Renjun bit his lips.

Haechan let out a weak laugh at Renjun’s question, “ _Do you really want to know?_ ”

“ _I don’t think you do, Super Star. You’re too afraid to know_.”

“‘the fuck I am.” Renjun rolled his eyes as if Hyuck could see him. “I am not afraid of anything. Gosh, stop getting on my nerves. I’m drunk.”

Haechan laughed. “We’re in the same hotel, Super Star. Can I come up to your room? It’s going to be our farewell, and then you can sleep and do the thing that you do well that is pretend that I don’t exist.”

Renjun’s inner voice yelled ‘NO! NO! DON’T LET HIM IN’, even though his body was in frenzy with curiosity. He urged to see him again, to look into Haechan’s eyes and see his full lips one more time in person. 

That is why he said… yes.

“ _Great_ ,” it looked like Christimas for Hyuck, “t _hen you can tell me what you liked the most on my Instagram photos.”_

He had ended the call.

Oh, no. Renjun was never going to open that door, not even in a million years!

༻✦༺

Haechan did not expect to find Renjun in such a state of disarray when the man opened the door. He did his best to not analyze or stare too much, but he could not stop thinking about Renjun’s cute clavicle bone and small shoulders. 

He walked to the small sitter on the room but Renjun mentioned that he could take the bed. So, there they were laying down together on the bed. 

There was not much to say and Renjun enjoyed that kind of silence on the room. Both of them bore their eyes on the ceiling. He took a good look at Haechan when he arrived, he looked exactly like in the picture he took minutes ago. But now it was so much better. He was so attractive. God damn.

"Are you really drunk?" Haechan whispered after few minutes.

"I'm not anymore, to be honest. I've sobered up now."

Haechan hummed. 

"When are you leaving?" Renjun asked.

"Tomorrow, at eight."

"Aren't you tired? I'd be dead by now if my flight was so early in the morning."

"I couldn't sleep. That's the reason why I am here." 

Renjun let Haechan's answer sink for a bit. 

"I had to talk with you since the last time I wasn't successful."

Renjun scoffed, "Do you mean at the wrap party? I didn't say shit to that reporter. Lemme tell exactly what I said to him: that you were a talented actor and I've learned a lot with you, yada-yada. Are you happy now? If you don't trust me so I can translate the article later and send it to you."

Renjun was still starring at the ceiling eagerly. Haechan had now moved to look at Renjun while he spoke that. He turned his body slightly, and with his elbow on the mattress he used his hand to support his head. 

"That's not exactly what I'm talking about, even though I'm glad you said that."

"Then what?" Renjun's eyebrows creased.

"The night I came up to your dressing room I was sure of one thing, I was ready to speak. Face what has been bothering me for so long, pour it out. But thank god you did not let me do it, and when I think about it, it was for the best."

It has been a month since that day, Renjun recalled. Renjun was mute, he noticed Haechan was not finished talking.

"I've noticed that what I've been doing is so wrong and because of that things got even harder between us. This is definitely not what I wanted to happen."

Haechan's speech seemed so encrypted or the alcohol that was still on Renjun's veins were making it ten times harder to understand. 

"But you made it even harder," he continued.

_Made what now?_

"I've heard about what people say about you, Renjun. How you treated me made it even harder to finally come up to a conclusion, to a disclosure. It took time, months… two months of pining. Gosh, I'm awful. But honestly after I've seen you from where I was, there behind the cameras. You were nothing that I was expecting. Completely brilliant. There wasn't a single spot of darkness in you, only light."

Renjun was dumbfounded, he snapped his head in Hyuck's direction. Haechan's expression was hard to read right now. He just wanted him to stop talking. If he could only leave Renjun alone.

"I think we all heard some tough stuff about each other, Haechan. We can't go back in time now, what was said it's done." 

That was the ugly truth about everything. If the rumors made their relationship follow that path it was hard to tell now. 

"I went through your social media today. I wanted to see you even though I left the party earlier than expected. I'm sorry." Renjun bit his lips. 

Haechan smiled. They never talked that much, they never showed their emotions without hurting or using them as a shield before. Haechan was pleased that now he could see a small smile also surfacing on his pretty face.

"I wanted kiss you, y'know?" Haechan’s voice was only a whisper when he said that. "I've asked myself before of this was what I wanted but it made me realize that I want this more than anything in the world right now." 

That left Renjun breathless. This was definitely something that would not happen, perhaps in a different universe. Never he would have thought Haechan would confess. 

There was this tingling feeling inside Renjun’s chest. He was speechless too. He thought about this scenario over and over again thinking about how to answer Hyuck, but nothing seemed to come up. 

He could say yes, he could admit that he wanted to kiss Haechan. Taste the juice from his lips, prove to himself that this man made him lose everything, or he could only brush Hyuck off. None of them looked easy, it made Renjun feel anxious. 

Haechan noticed the panic on Renjun’s eyes, he felt sick. There on the bed, lying beside the man he desired he felt nothing but relief after confessing. 

“We can’t do that, Haechan,” Renjun panted. 

_Yes, right. They could not._

“I don’t think this is going to work out,” Renjun’s eyes were foggy,” If we kiss, I would not know how to take things from here. There would be complications.”

Renjun closed his eyes and turned his head, he did not want to see Hyuck’s face now. 

Hyuck was glad, at the end, because he was not able to see how his face changed so quick after Renjun’s words. There was this bitter and heartbroken look in his eyes. _God, he begged for a kiss, only a single kiss and he had been denied that. Pathetic._

There was nothing else to say, to be honest. Hyuck said what he wanted to say, he did not expect nothing back from Renjun. That man was not opening himself to him, not in the way that he wanted. 

That night, when Haechan left there was no goodbye words.

༻✦༺

Yes, I let him leave, this what Renjun told Jaemin the next morning. Jaemin found Renjun on his bed, window curtains were drawn and the room dark. 

“I feel so bad since I was the one that gave him your phone number. Oh, god, you broke the poor boy’s heart.” Jaemin shook his head. 

Renjun groaned, “I’ve got the worst headache today. Karma is doing its job.”

Jaemin looked at him poorly, “You kinda deserve it, though.”

“Y’could’ve said something to him, Renjun. If you feel something about him it might have worked.”

“Don’t. I don’t want to talk about this right now. Let it be.”

Jaemin sighed.

Well, they never talked about it. For months Jaemin watched Renjun sulk around. Renjun never called Haechan. He watched Hyuck’s old and new interviews, visited his Instagram every day and listened to his songs. He thought Jaemin did not notice but it was hard not to. One day Jaemin left a piece of paper with Hyuck’s phone number on Renjun’s kitchen table, but it only made Renjun even angrier with him. _It’s none of your business_ , he said. Jaemin only rolled his eyes and crumbled the piece of paper with his hands. 

Life has to go on, this was Renjun mantra. Renjun pretended that nothing happened, the pain inside him was long lost. It was all bulshit.

The post-production of their movie took six months to finish. The movie trailer was closer to be dropped out and the promotions ready to start. Renjun had to see Hyuck, talk with him, take pictures and be amicable.

Perhaps Haechan had forgotten about him, and they would just act as colleagues from now. No hard feelings. Renjun let out a deep breath at this thought, as if he could look at that man and try to act normal… far from it.

Jealousy was making Renjun crazy, it’s all that he could say. The thought of seeing Haechan’s arms draped around someone at the movie premiere haunted him sometimes. He wished he could find a date to the premiere, but he decided not to play games anymore.

What he did not expect was when Jaemin appeared one day, just a week before the promotions started. He had one of those worried looks on his face, the ones that Renjun hated to see.

 **Oh, no! Costars Renjun and Haechan seem not to get along! (Click to see details** )

That was the name of the article published at Naver. Renjun did not want to read it. Nervousness started to creep in. It could be one of those clickbait articles, he thought. It could be the kind of promo the studio wanted.

“They had an insider, it was someone from the cast. They confirmed everything.” Jaemin supplied since Renjun stood there quiet in his room. 

“So what?” Renjun asked shrugging. “I don’t want to read it.”

“It’s bad promo. They said some harsh stuff, how the cast and crew were bothered by your yelling… You had to film the same scenes many times because it was impossible to concentrate with all the fighting. That Haechan tried to get closer to yo-”

Renjun raised his hand making Jaemin stop talking. “Can you clean this mess? Write something and sue all of them?” 

“Yes, I only wanted to tell you this because uh-,” Jaemin took his phone out of this pocket to show something on the screen to Renjun, “Haechan wrote something on his Instagram…”

> _“To my dearest fans,_
> 
> _If you’re reading this it’s probably because you read that article about Renjun and I. These twelve months had been the most important months of my life, that’s why I thought it would be fair to come here and talk with the people I’ve shared most of my life with._
> 
> _I’ve learnt a lot from Renjun, he is an amazing costar and colleague. We’re so different, and I’m so honored that he could share some bits of his amazing light with me there on the set. This movie has been such a substantial experience for me. I’m so sorry people had the guts to say something so bad about our relationship, when he was nothing but kind to me. It really hurts me because we worked so hard and I wish you all could see him there. He really shone everyone. I wish that I could go back and make things differently, but only for the best. I wish we talked more, I wish we had more time to share our experiences together. I would only cherish that…_
> 
> _Being an artist is so tough. There are a lot of complications, things that we would love to change. Still, we need to try our best. This is what I did. I came here to tell my fans that everything is ok. There’s no need to be worried. Thank you so much for your lovely messages, I will cherish each one of them. Hope you guys enjoy ‘The Paradox’ with all my heart._
> 
> _I’m all yours,_
> 
> _H.”_

Renjun was trembling. He did not believe Haechan would dare to say that. To be so open. He had so many good things to tell about Renjun. An awful pain settled on Renjun’s chest. 

Haechan was nothing but kind to him too. He opened himself to him that night. Words spilling out of his lips, lips that wanted to be against his. He wanted that too, right. But he was a coward to admit that. 

༻✦༺

Renjun could not stop trembling on his way to Gangnam-du. Haechan just confessed, the motherfucker basically confessed on his million followers account. Renjun could imagine the headlines. Oh, god. He’s so dumb.

Renjun was not fine, but he lied to Jaemin so he could leave him alone that night. Renjun knew what he was doing was wrong. He went to his costar house in the middle of the night, just so he could see with him. It was one of those nights he could not find any rest, mind crazy filled with thoughts and regrets. 

It was a rather cold night. Thoughts about what he should do. Should he talk with him? He should beg his forgiveness about what he did to him few months ago. Was it too late to go back? He remembered Haechan’s words. _There are a lot of complications,_ he was talking about what Renjun had said that night. It was a clear reference to them. But does that mean that he was sorry? Does that mean that he wishes it never happened? 

Oh, god. He’s over analyzing stuff, and guess what? He’s freaking out in front of Haechan’s door. 

“Shit,” he moaned. 

Renjun’s hands would not move, they were stuck. He could not knock the door or ring the doorbell. It was so humiliating. Finally, after few deadly seconds deciding if he should turn back Renjun dialed Hyuck. 

The phone rang and rang. Renjun’s chest was bursting with anxiety. _Fuck, you’re so stupid._

Hyuck did not pick up so Renjun ended the call. Deep breaths, hands shaky holding the phone. Rejection and anxiety making the back of his head throb, and his jaw was set. Renjun closed his eyes, trying to ease the feeling. There was nothing he could do. He really fucked up. Hyuck was not going to pick up.

God.

_Vrrrr_

_Vrrr_

_Could it be?_

Oh, god. 

Renjun almost dropped his phone, he stared at the screen trying to see who was calling him and his heart did somersaults when he saw Haechan’s number there.

“Yes?” he answered. Renjun’s voice was shaky.

“ _Renjun?_ ” 

God, that voice. Renjun melted at the sound of his voice. Hyuck sounded a bit sleepy. Cute.

“ _Is that you?_ ” 

“Sorry, I was trying to call you, but you did not pick up. Were you asleep? I’m deeply sorry.”

Haechan did not answer at first, it was like he was taking the moment or perhaps thinking about ending the call. 

“Yes, I was asleep but- Wait, are you really calling me?” 

Renjun hummed.

“Is that because of the article? Taeil said he had a meeting with the media team, I guess Jaemin must have told you that. It’s all going to be solved by the end of the week. They found out who leaked the information from the se-”

“Haechan,” Renjun whimpered interrupting him. “can you please open the door?”

Call ended.

Renjun was amazed. When Haechan opened that door, expectant eyes and fluffy hair he was unable to think properly. Haechan did not seem unhappy, he noticed that, which made his chest inflate. 

Haechan’s lips were slightly open and he eyed Renjun as if he was a holy vision. Renjun could not stop thinking about them… About how many times he had zoomed in on Hyuck’s photos so he could look at his plump lips. And there they were. Gorgeous.

He walked to Hyuck, millimeters away from him. Lips so close, eyes stuck on each other. The warm breath on Hyuck’s mouth touching his skin, making it warm and tingly. It was stirring how Hyuck’s eyes would go from Renjun parted lips to his eyes. It made Renjun kiss him, because he deserved it.

Renjun’s mouth fitted Haechan and it made sense. He should have done this before. Haechan met Renjun in the middle of the kiss returning it with intention. Hands found Renjun’s waist pulling him closer to Haechan’s chest. Hyuck controlled the kiss now, mouth massaging Renjun’s while his tongue teased the entrance. The pace was slow, enticing and it made Renjun pant. 

Haechan parted from Renjun giving soft pecks on his lips, “Let’s get inside, it’s cold.”

Renjun let Haechan pull him inside, he let Haechan pull him for another kiss too, while he closed the door. Renjun’s hands made their way to Haechan’s brown locks, squeezing and pulling them a bit. 

Hyuck let out a gasp between the kiss. The hold on Renjun’s waist got even tighter. Haechan’s tongue pressed on Renjun lips and then licked inside his mouth.

Perfectly warm and delectable, that is how Renjun would describe the kiss.

“Do you hate me?” Renjun moaned.

Haechan opened his eyes to look at him. Eyes were cloudy with longing, lips redder because of the kiss. He was in awe, so hopeless that he could not answer.

Haechan’s brush his left hand on Renjun’s waist, then he dragged his hand up to Renjun’s face, touching his skin lightly there.

“Do you hate me?” Renjun pleaded again.

Haechan kissed Renjun and he hope it was enough to answer his question. He took Renjun on his lips, pleasure making him bit and suck on Renjun's mouth. The way Renjun would hold into him, hands clasping his sides and brushing his shoulder blades. The touch burning through his shirt. That night he was happy that the only thing he could hear was Renjun's soft moans while they kissed. 

༻✦༺

Haechan schedule would take the whole day. Interviews, shootings and photos. He had to keep focused that day even though it was impossible not to think about the other night when Renjun kissed him. 

It made him angry, actually. He thought they would fix what was wrong, talk about what happened but no. Renjun kissed him like that, touched his body and let Haechan touch him. It made him burning for more and then… he left. That was such a great idea since they were going to see each other 24/7 the next day.

God hates me.

Renjun left him last night without saying any word, which took all his peace of mind. He did not sleep well and later when he saw Renjun walk to the press conference hall looking gorgeous as ever it made him feel angry. 

If Renjun could pretend that nothing was going on he could do it too. 

The reporters were informed that the actors would only answer questions about the movie. Haechan tried to look at Renjun for few seconds, but Renjun only smiled at the press. He found it to be kind of annoying that he was ignoring him. 

The press conference went on and so the whole promotion that day. But the costars did not share a word, they were too busy. Haechan talked to the press about his song that would be released at the day of the premiere, he tried to busy his head with that. Even though his head was full of Renjun, it pleaded for him. But Renjun still only wanted to make his blood boil.

༻✦༺

The premiere on Seoul that night was incredible. The movie company had props on the red carpet related to the movie, it was all set up at the hotel Motte downtown Seoul. There was a buzz around the release that night. 

Renjun was nervous, he always gets nervous at movie premieres. It’s just too grand and tiring. Too many people and too many cameras. He only hoped things would end well and that the people there would like the movie.

And by ending well it meant that he could finally talk with Haechan after chickening out the other night. They kissed, yes. It was unbelievable, he still thinks about it more that he wanted to. But he needed to talk with him. It felt like after that kiss things got even more complicated.

Renjun tried to find Haechan on the red carpet when he arrived, his eyes scanning through the crowd. 

“This way, Junnie.” Jaemin said touching his arms lightly. He should Renjun the way through the red carpet.

_Where is he?_

“Let me take you to him.” Jaemin smiled. Of course, he saw how Renjun’s eyes were crazy searching Haechan through the crowd.

Jaemin took him to Haechan, they glided in the crowd of people. Inside the hotel there was at least less people than outside on the red carpet so Renjun could walk freely. 

“He’s at his room.” Jaemin said when they entered the elevator, “The company rented the whole hotel for the premiere. So, we got the cast rooms to stay after the premiere.”

Renjun could only nod at Jaemin’s words. “He’s waiting for you.”

“Is he really?”

Renjun looked at himself through the elevator mirror. He looked quite nice today, even though inside him there was nothing but a mess. But his eyes were dark and his head full of thoughts of that man who was waiting for him in one of those hotel rooms. 

The elevator stopped and Jaemin guided Renjun to follow him in the pristine gold corridor. He took him to the door at the ending of the corridor and then he turned at Renjun.

“Look, this is your last chance. If you fuck it up this time, you’re going to have to face the consequences. I’m going to beat your ass. Think about this.” Jaemin looked at him dead in the eyes.

“Thanks, Jaem. No pressure at all then.” Renjun mumbled. He gave him a short smile.

Renjun took a deep breath. He put his right hand on the doorknob and then with the left one he knocked. 

He heard a faint, ‘yes, come in’ and that was enough for him to get in.

To Renjun’s surprise the room was dark. There was a pitiful light coming from the window. Jaemin had his back turned to Renjun, he could see his silhouette clearly. Renjun closed the door with a ‘thud’. 

“Jaemin told me you were expecting me.” 

Renjun’s throat was really dry.

“Yes, I am,” he said.

Renjun did not know if the darkness made it more comfortable for him to have this talk or not. It was strange.

“You have been ignoring me.”

“No, I have not.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes.” Renjun coughed.

“That night you left without saying a thing to me. This is the first time we're talking, basically.” 

“Is that so? I didn’t notice.” Of course, you did. Stop acting nonchalant.

“You get on my nerves, _Super Star_ ,” Donghyuck breathed harshly. “After all this time you still make me want to punch your pretty face.”

In the dark he heard the small dark figure of the man in front of him laugh. Shortly the door of the somber hotel room was closed and tension inside the room was palpable. The actor backed away without taking his eyes of the man in front of him, Donghyuck’s co-star. He felt tension buzzing through his body, firing up his instincts. Even so dark, he could not see his expression but that man’s presence was enough to make his blood pump differently on his veins.

_Don’t be weak… Not again._

“Do I make you so angry?” Donghyuck’s body tensed up when he heard the man’s voice vibrate in waves through the room. He felt chills through his body. _Crazy shit._

 _Do you hate me? -_ he heard the other night in the same tone.

Before he could even formulate the answer to that question, he felt the air switch and the man get even closer to him. He walked carefully as if he asked for his permission to get closer. _Oh, do not be so pathetic._ Donghyuck tried to search his eyes in the darkness with no success. 

Renjun, no, please.

In this dark room Donghyuck could almost taste the desire, the simple pleasure. His mouth dry and his hands grasping his sides, the dangerous tremble of his legs. Just steps away to grab what has been bothering his head these few days. Kiss that man senseless in the dark, where he could pretend to not have recollection later. Leave his mark on the warm skin and beg to hear the sounds he heard the last time. 

_Fuck him. Fuck the dark. Fuck this hotel room. Fuck me, to be honest._

Hyuck backed away a bit more until he felt a small thud. He finally hit the glass window. Now, so close to the window he heard the faint screaming and the cars outside in the street. People buzzing at the movie premiere and at the circus the company planned down the hotel that night. Donghyuck bitterly hoped they were enjoying themselves.

“I made you upset, I know,” Renjun started, his voice trembling, “Gosh, I wish I could have told you how good you looked that night. I bet you do too right now, even if I can’t see you.”

A blinding light ray came into the room, uninvited and revealing. Donghyuck saw clearly as the white light flashed through Renjun’s face. He bore his eyes on Renjun’s expression and his features for the first time since they got into that room. Renjun did not even flinch at the change, he did not try to hide himself. There, open for him.

A sudden discomfort poked Donghyuck’s chest making him gasp.

The eyes that followed him in the past were there just meters away from him. A small smile peeked on his lips, daring Hyuck after his little confession. So sure of himself in that velvet red suit that made Donghyuck think about the word ‘super star’ once again. Donghyuck understood that the light came from the red carpet spotlight, but he could not stop thinking that Renjun became the source of the light. 

He wanted to say something foolish, just like the man before him did seconds ago. The staring contest should stop anytime now because Hyuck’s heart would not take anymore. He wanted run his hands through the window curtains to stop the lights from coming to the room. 

Hyuck did not had time to do so when the light changed and the room became black once again. It was for the best; he could hide his issues in the dark. Things were hard enough in the light. 

“I don’t want to play this game with you, _Super Star_ ,” Donghyuck finally said. 

The lights were back on Renjun’s face. Hyuck saw his pained expression, lips tight and eyes never leaving his. He opened his mouth once but nothing came out. 

Then he mumbled. “Y-you can pretend what you want, Hyuck. I don’t think I can handle this anymore. I beg you to be gentle.”

“That night I could not stop thinking how much I wanted to go back and kiss your stupid face,” Renjun took a deep breathe. “You were everything that I wanted, for god’s sake. Now you have something against me and you can use it how you want. But god, I wish I could ruin you too…”

He was so exposed. The spotlight was on Renjun, showing what he had been hiding within his chest. His confession clear as the light that shone on his eyes.

“Is this how you’re confessing to me?” Hyuck asked. “Are you finally saying what I think you’re saying? Are you going to run away from me?”

Hyuck sounded desperate for Renjun’s answer and that honestly never was his intention. He was too confused to even know what he was doing.

“Yes, I’m sorry it took a while to realize that I want you. “ 

Haechan smiled at that.He walked towards Renjun. Eyes bore into his. He looked gorgeous. He wished he could see him better, later he would turn up the lights to look at that man and memorise every bit of him. But for now he only thought about one thing… which was kissing Renjun.

There were no words left to say for now. Hyuck kissed him and Renjun melted into his arms. He sucked Renjun's lips the way he wanted to do last time. Their lips finding a lush pace.

They got to an agreement through soft kisses and sensuous ones. With Renjun's witty words and Haechan's charming ones.

The actors finally found common ground.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Hope y'all enjoyed it. See you next time! xx
> 
> prompt #83: a film au! both of them are actors and have to participate in a film were they are the main characters. they dont get along bc both  
> of them have heard some rumours about the other but never have met nor worked together.


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